Tron: The Revolution Begins -- Drabbles Collection
by Panda Bear Lover 317
Summary: A series of short stories and forgotten details throughout the Tron: The Revolution Begins trilogy starting from the discovery of the Specials towards the end of Beck and Ally's struggle against Clu and his oppressive forces. Along with the mysterious explanations and stories behind some of their friends and secret involvements throughout the timeline.
1. Discovery

**Chapter 1 – Discovery**

Kevin Flynn's POV

He sat down at his desk in the basement of his arcade and started typing into the keyboard.

**$login: -flynn  
#bin/LLLSDLaserControl-ok**

Kevin hit the enter key and a message box popped up as he heard the digitizer turn on with a hum.

**Aperture clear?**  
** Yes No **

He hit and 'y' key and the laser activated. In the blink of an eye, he was inside the Grid-version of his arcade basement.

Kevin Flynn stood up and walked out the doors of the building. He was greeted with Tron and Clu – as usual. It's been almost a few HiloCycles since the ISOs had been discovered. Since then, Clu's project to create and maintain the perfect system had to be put off so these Isomorphic Algorithms could be situated.

It was a bit awkward at first – Clu was noticeably uncomfortable around these new Programs and the Basics had little to no knowledge of how they should've dealt with it. However, Flynn made sure to set the example of welcoming these new Programs.

Kevin turned to Tron. "How are things, Tron? Any recent trouble?"

Tron hesitated. "Um, well, everything's fine regarding the ISOs but…well…the gang problems are getting worse."

"We'll talk more about that later. Clu?" Flynn turned to face his digital copy. "Anything new?"

Clu opened his mouth to answer when a security Program quickly approached.

"Tron, Flynn, the…*pant pant*…unknown activity in the Outlands. It's getting weirder."

Tron turned to the Program. "What kind of activity?"

Kevin subtly raised an eyebrow. He'd heard nothing about activity in the Outlands.

"Movement, sir," The Program straightened up. "I…think there're Programs in the boundaries."

"Then get them out." Clu said simply. "Bring them into the City and we'll take care of the rest."

The Program hesitated to reply. "…There's at least a few dozen out there."

"Gangs?" Flynn asked.

"I…I don't think so." The soldier's communicator beeped and he checked it. "Here's an update: They appear to be wandering aimlessly. Not a single one has a disk." He looked up at Tron. "Requesting permission to investigate at a closer distance."

"Negative." Tron answered. "I'll check it out."

"Chill, Tron, we'll all go together." Flynn replied easily, pulling out his Encom 786 baton. "It'll be fun! Like old times."

"I certainly hope not." Tron muttered. That Program, he was too much like Alan. He never thought Kevin's ideas of fun were…fun.

Clu said nothing and followed them in silence.

"I have the locations where the closest Programs were last seen." Tron reported, "This is very unusual. I don't think these are ISOs – this is nowhere near the Sea of Simulation."

"Maybe they wandered away from the Sea undetected." Clu suggested. "It's happened before."

Flynn glanced at Clu curiously. "It has?"

"It wasn't important." Tron answered quickly. "No one got hurt."

The System Monitor pulled the brake on his bike and derezzed it back into a baton, pocketing the stick. "This is the last location of one of the Programs but I don't see anyone."

"We'll split up and look around." Flynn grinned. "This is fun. It's like hide and seek."

He could clearly see on Tron's face that he wanted to say, as usual, 'This is serious, Flynn. We don't know what we're dealing with.' But he kept his mouth shut this time.

They all knew though, they really didn't know what they were dealing with.

Flynn trudged off in his own direction and glanced around the different sized rocks. He whirled around to face Tron when he heard the Monitor say, "I've got footprints."

Tron had his hand on the ground and he was catching traces of glowing red footprints. Clu took the lead and pulled out his disk as he followed the trail. The blade lit up with that usual hum as he stalked towards a large rock where the footprints stopped.

Without warning, something jumped out from behind the rock and tackled Clu to the ground. Flynn's digital copy started wrestling with whatever the thing was and they rolled around.

Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be inflicting any harm towards Clu; they were just wrestling each other. The User started laughing at the sight. Tron stood up and furrowed his brows at the two Programs on the ground.

The unknown Program was clearly stronger than Clu, as he eventually pinned the System Administrator down. Clu's disk lay abandoned far out of his reach. The Program on top of Clu leaned forward and growled at the mask.

Tron cautiously approached the Program unarmed. "Identify." He commanded quietly.

The unknown Program immediately responded to the words and turned towards the Monitor. He said nothing but kept his eyes trained on Tron, clearly trying to figure out if he was a threat as well.

This time, Flynn took the initiative and stepped forward with an amused grin…unarmed, of course. "As much as I enjoy watching Clu get his ass handed to him, I'd kindly ask you to get off my digital copy. I promise he won't hurt you."

The Program hesitated for a few nanos but eventually complied. Flynn took that as a good sign. "What's your designation?"

The unknown Program responded a little faster this time. "Identification: Shaun. Programmed to be an architect and soldier."

Clu grunted and sat up, removing his mask. "Two Programmings? That seems a bit unusual." He grabbed his disk and stood up.

Shaun whirled around, ready to knock Clu down again but Tron put a hand on his shoulder. Clu put his disk back and walked away, grumbling something along the lines of 'how was this supposed to be fun' and 'I'm going back to my room for a drink.'

Kevin looked at Shaun's back. "You don't have a disk," He observed. "Did you have one previously?"

Shaun shook his head. "I've been walking around here ever since I was created."

"Who created you?" Tron asked.

"I know I didn't," Kevin interjected. "I think we have another type of Program now. This should be fun. Looks like we have another race created by the Grid." He cocked his head and looked at Shaun again. "Are there more like you?"

Shaun nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah. They're just…walking around like I was."

Kevin looked thoughtful. "Well, how would you like to live in a City with other Programs?"

Shaun frowned. "Are they going to attack me?"

He had to suppress a laugh. "No, they're friendly. They've recently welcomed another typed of Program into their City. It's very peaceful around there."

It didn't take long for Shaun to consider it. "Okay."

"Flynn," Tron's voice sounded quiet but full of awe. "You need to look at this." He had a pair of binoculars and was looking around with them. His jaw was slack.

Kevin took the binoculars and held back a gasp. He could see dozens of diskless Programs wandering around. Some were alone, others were in groups. They weren't lined up and walking in one direction like the ISOs when they crawled out of the Sea but…

"They're scattered." He observed. "This is interesting." He turned to Tron. "Arrange to have search parties sent out to round up these Programs and brought back." He rubbed his forehead and handed Tron back the binoculars. "The next few cycles should be interesting."

"I haven't seen anything like this before." Tron said, pocketing the binoculars. "Then again, there are a lot of things I haven't seen in my lifetime."

Flynn nodded. "You and me both." Flynn pulled out his baton. "Oh, and Tron," The Monitor turned towards the Creator again. "You should probably also inform your teams to approach these guys unarmed, heh?"

Flynn rezzed his bike and invited Shaun to sit behind him, which the Program reluctantly did, holding on tightly even before they started moving.

"Flynn?" Tron asked. "Should this event go in the archives?"

Kevin laughed. "Are you kidding? Yes! Let it be known that a new Program knocked Clu flat in less than 10 nanos!" He got serious again. "All joking aside though, this is yet another discovery we've made here in this digital frontier. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there were other new things out there waiting to be found."

Tron pulled out his baton and rezzed his bike. "Yes, sir. But we may need to proceed with caution from here on out."

Kevin Flynn nodded. "I couldn't agree more. There's no telling what could happen here. Even I wouldn't know. You be careful too, Tron."

Tron and the Creator parted ways. "I'll try." He said quietly. "But I'm more worried about you."

* * *

**Okay, that's the first chap. I DO have plans to add detail to or write little short stories in here regarding the ****Tron: The Revolution Begins trilogy I've finished. However, I am inviting any and all people reading this to make requests of where and when in the story timeline you'd want me to work on (if there were possibly loose ends that were never tied up and such or if you want more detail from certain events). Otherwise, I'm going to write a couple short stories of my own ideas about some events that I think would be fun to help define some of the personalities of the characters I wrote.  
**

******I also figured it best to bring this up: I'm going to try and post little chapters in timeline order as much as possible so it'd help me a lot if requests are made soon. Just sayin', I don't bite ;)  
TRON LIVES! Toodles.**


	2. Manifestation of Friends and Enemies

**Okay, because I'm probably going to be on holiday starting tomorrow...and gone on Tron Tuesday as well, I figured I'd give this to you guys now. I'm just gonna say right now, this is the beginning of Zoe's life...I also found out a small hiccup in the storyline. I forgot about Avery...who was a member of Tron's team. I figured I should tie up loose ends with him too...eventually.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Manifestation of Friends and Enemies**

Zoe's POV

She wasn't among the first groups of Specials to come out of nowhere…but definitely not the last.

Zoe opened her eyes and immediately squinted to see someone towering over her. Her fighting Programming kicked in and she sent the too-close Program sprawled on the ground while she stood over him.

He groaned and slowly sat up. "You know, I probably shouldn't have done that."

Now knowing he wasn't going to hurt her nor intended to in the first place, Zoe rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "No, I'm sorry." She said. "I was just…confused."

"Not a problem." He got to his feet. This guy was a few good inches taller than her and had bluish/white primary circuits and purple secondary colors. He held out his hand for her to shake. "Avery," He introduced himself, "I'm like you…I also happen to be one of Tron's recruits."

Avery studied her for a long moment. "You look like you'd make a great candidate for his group. Are you Programmed to fight because, well," He glanced over his shoulder to look back at where she was laying just a few nanos ago. "That was a pretty impressive move."

Zoe smiled coyly. She was so new to this and totally lacked social skills. The new Special made a mental note to work on that.

"Uh…yeah, I'm programmed for fighting. But…well, for now I'll think about the offer of joining." She looked around. "However, I think I may have to sort a few things out first."

Avery blinked and straightened up. "Oh, yeah, of course." He pulled out his baton. "You want a lift to the City? I could help you get settled and-" He looked at her back. "-Get you an identity disk."

Zoe gave him a soft, innocent smile. "I'd like that. Thank you."

…

Zoe shivered. It was dark…too dark. Impossible to even see her hand in front of her face. No light, except for the circuits on her body suit, which didn't give off more than a faint glow.

She'd only just got to the City but it was nothing like she'd thought…or what Avery told her.

After he dropped her off in the Special's District – where everyone else of her kind lived – he recommended she explored a little to get comfortable and took off.

He never warned her that there were some unfriendly Programs that inhabited the City. One moment she was walking down the streets, smiling, the next, someone roughly grabbed her and hit the back of her head hard.

She wasn't given the chance to even think about fighting back. It all happened too fast for her to comprehend. She was still new to all of this.

Then she wakes up to a dark room, tied up. It felt cold. She squeezed her eyes shut. This was not how she'd hoped to live her life. She didn't want to belong to anyone but herself.

She wanted to see light again.

Zoe couldn't help but flinch when the door opened and the silhouette of at least four blood lusted-looking men walked over to where she was.

What she learned painfully quickly was that these guys lived for other's pain. They were sadists.

Just…sick.

Zoe curled herself into a protective ball, willing herself to be somewhere other than here. She hated the torment. She wanted to choose death over this.

Quick, painless, blissful death.

Zoe squeezed her moist eyes shut. What brought her into this painful world?

After her captor left, she didn't move from her position. She hurt too much to move. Their disks inflicted so much damage that Zoe was amazed she hadn't derezzed yet.

They didn't leave anything unscathed.

Nothing.

All her limbs, her extremities, her back, the front of her torso, her face…everywhere.

Zoe kept silently asking herself, asking the darkness: Why? Why would those people want to do this? To her?

She started shaking and hiccupping sobs wracked her body. She didn't want to be here anymore. She wanted out.

Zoe stiffly started unraveling from her tight position and shakily stood up. The restraints she previously wore had been taken off a long time ago so it was easier for those…men to torture every inch of her.

They never bothered to put them back on.

Zoe lifted a trembling hand and grabbed for her disk. She was amazed they didn't take that away either. They really were stupid.

But then again, she'd managed to convince them (and herself for a while) that she was too afraid to try anything. She stumbled through the dark room to try and find the exit.

Before she could even take her fourth step, however, she heard chaos erupt from outside. A bomb went off and shook the walls. Zoe lost her balance and landed on her hands and knees. She didn't lose her disk…yet.

Then there was fighting. She recognized a few voices, most of them coming from the bloodlusty men that hurt her but she knew one…

Her eyes widened.

Someone else is here. To rescue her? She hoped…

Zoe wanted to open her mouth and shout for help but she couldn't. She'd screamed so much earlier that her vocals were damaged. She would be lucky to be able to make a coherent whisper now.

She got back up on her feet and activated her disk before looking for a door. It helped to follow the noise to its source. And as fast as the fighting started, it stopped. Everything went quiet.

Zoe then tripped on something that was lying on the ground. And her fall was embarrassingly noisy. She let out a weak gasp and then groaned in pain when she hit the ground yet again.

She was hurt so badly.

Zoe lifted her head quickly when there were audible footsteps and the muffled sound of talking from behind the door. She had no idea if it was the bad men that won the fight or the strangers so she squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

The door opened up and a little bit of light spilled into the room. It was so blinding that Zoe lifted her hand – the one clutching her disk tightly – to shade her eyes.

Zoe was breathing in ragged gasps and could barely keep herself under control. She was shaking so hard now. The 3 Programs in the other room were utterly silent and the closest one to her, the one that opened the door, approached her.

The Program, distinctly male, was holding his own disk. Zoe's eyes widened a fraction and she swung hers at him. His circuits were red – the color of one of her tormenters.

Zoe was injured though so her swing wasn't very good. He dodged easily enough and managed to grab an uninjured part of her wrist to pull her disk away. Then he pulled her closer.

Zoe twisted in his grip and did something that would've surprised herself on any other cycle…because she usually would despise doing it.

She bit him.

He let out a high pitched yelp that she didn't think a guy was capable of and backed away from her, shaking his injured hand and glancing back at his comrades.

"Avery, she bit me!" Zoe froze up at the name. Avery…

A quiet sigh from a Program that walked over to them carefully. "Could you really blame her?" Zoe slowly turned to the second Program and stared.

He stared back. Avery instantly recognized her through the hundreds of injuries riddling her body. "A-Are you okay?" He clutched at her shoulders that weren't too messed up. "Gosh, I didn't think you'd fall victim to gangsters so quickly. I'm sorry."

Zoe glanced over at the Program she'd bitten. There was another burly male standing next to him now. They both had white Primary circuits but the guy she attacked had red secondary circuits while his friend had yellow.

Avery grabbed Zoe's disk and reattached it to her before carefully picking her up and carrying her out of the building.

She'd lost consciousness after that but later woke up to a white ceiling, white walls, white everything. Zoe lifted her head and looked around. There were medics walking past her bed in various directions to go about their business. One of them actually turned and smiled at her before continuing with her job.

Zoe slowly sat up and examined herself. Whoever repaired her code was clearly an expert because there wasn't a flaw on her skin now. Like that nightmare of events never happened. But Zoe remembered perfectly. She knew she'd be mentally scarred for a long time from now.

She felt eyes on her and looked at the medic that smiled at her just earlier. The Program picked up Zoe's disk and looked at the code. "The Creator came by to visit Tron earlier." She spoke with a soft, light voice. "Just at that moment, you arrived." She glanced at Zoe. "You know, I don't think anyone's ever really attacked a Special like that before. It caused a real panic."

Nonetheless, the medic was still smiling. "Flynn himself insisted on healing your code the moment you were set down." She deactivated Zoe's disk and placed it on her back. "You were lucky. You were in critical condition when you were brought in. Now," Her smile got broader. "You're flawless." She paused. "Tron wants to visit you, by the way."

Zoe nodded and stood up. Her stronger, steadier feet carried her to the exit of the medical bay and after walking out the door, found herself face to face with Avery.

She blinked in surprise and took a step back. Avery seemed just as surprised from her sudden exit. "Uh," He started. "I've been waiting out here, for you." He seemed just as awkward as her now. "I'm supposed to take you to Tron."

Zoe nodded and followed him down the hall. She hadn't spoken a word.

Avery glanced at her. "I'm glad to know you're okay." He said quietly. "You…had everyone worried for a while. Not a lot of people thought you were going to survive. And-" He bit his lip. Avery clearly wasn't used to these kinds of conversations. "I'm sorry…for not warning you."

Zoe blinked and looked at him curiously. "I should've told you there were some…unfriendly Programs out there. I was really surprised to find out you'd gotten yourself stuck in a gang situation so quickly."

"They attacked me." Zoe said quietly. Her voice was different. It was raspy. _Screaming really did a number on it._ She thought bitterly.

Avery seemed to notice the difference too because he glanced at her again. Zoe immediately took a liking to him. She wasn't crushing on him but he was friendly. She liked how his gaze didn't hold any pity for her. But it was…admiration?

It was a possibility. Zoe was on death's door but somehow against all odds managed to survive the terrible ordeal. Now that her previous horrible experience was over with, she was proud of herself for being strong enough to make it through as well.

Avery opened a door and walked in after Zoe. Standing in a white suit with his arms folded was Tron. He wasn't alone though. There were the other two Programs from the warehouse she was kept in were sparring each other. She looked at the red-circuited Program and was relieved to see his hand was healed too.

Tron turned around to face Avery. He glanced at Zoe and noticed all her injuries were gone. He nodded to himself as if satisfied that she was better.

Zoe took a deep breath. "Tron," she murmured.

"You're feeling better." It was more of a statement than a question but Zoe replied anyway.

"Yes, Sir." Zoe had heard about the hero of the Grid in the short number of cycles she'd lived so far. She held a deep amount of respect for him.

Tron nodded again. "I understand you're Programmed for fighting."

Zoe nodded. "Yeah, but I need to work on it."

Tron unfolded his arms. "Well, I'm looking for more candidates for a team I'm putting together. From what I've come to notice, you're much stronger than I would have thought. I want to offer you a place on the team. From there, you'll be trained and given the chance to help maintain order not only here in the City but the entire Grid."

Zoe's eyes widened. When Avery first mentioned it to her, Zoe didn't think she'd even have a chance to join, that she would never be worthy. She still wasn't sure of herself but Tron clearly saw some potential.

It could be a great opportunity for her. And after the gang problem earlier, all she wants now is to make sure no other Program has to experience what she went through.

Zoe smiled. "Sir, that's all I want." She could've sworn she saw the corners of Avery's lips twitch as he suppressed a smile.

…

"Hi, I'm Alpha." A sandy-brown haired girl held out her hand to shake. She was clearly new; maybe several HiloCycles younger than Zoe. So far she's pretty nice.

Gorgeous too; with her big glowing green eyes and perfectly symmetrical slender face to that shiny aura she gives off with her uniquely colored circuits.

Zoe shook the hand offered to her. "Zoe." She had to wonder if Alpha was going to greet their neighbors the exact same way or only her. So far Zoe only knew she was the first one she greeted here.

She knew that because Flynn himself escorted her here and gave her a tour. She only just noticed Zoe right after he left. Zoe was guessing Alpha was looking for a friend.

_What could the harm be? It could turn out to be fun!_ Zoe, for some reason, felt like she wanted to cozy up with this Program because she just seemed to be a bundle of joy. She also wanted to figure out the riddle of this Program possibly a couple HiloCycles younger than her.

Zoe pointed to the elevator. "I'm going to meet up with some friends at the End of Line Club, want to go?"

The younger Program perked up immediately. "Really? You sure?" _Good golly, what has this young lady been through to lower her self-esteem?_

Zoe rolled her eyes playfully. "No, I was asking you if you wanted a virus." She said with her voice dripping sarcasm. "Of course you can come with! It'll be fun!" Zoe surprised herself there. She usually wasn't so bubbly like that.

Was it something on this younger Program rubbing off on her already? She shook her head as they walked to the elevator.

…

The last few MylaCycles was grueling work. Zoe was so young and new and out of shape. She got tired very quickly and relied on her endurance to keep going.

And according to Avery, she hadn't seen anything yet.

Once she got the hang of fighting techniques through private lessons with Tron and Avery, she finally got into sparring. Her first opponent happened to be the Program she bit, whose name she learned was Ken. The other Program was Con. And she became friends with them very quickly.

The first couple hundred rounds of sparring were epic failures and face plants on the ground but she still gradually progressed, studying her opponents before she struck and looking for openings. Her first victory in sparring was against Con and she was proud.

The next big thing that happened was another Special added to the group: Liz. The first thing Zoe noticed about this girl was that she was quite full of herself. Not in the spoiled bratty way, but she had a lot of high self-esteem and confidence.

Zoe actually liked that about Liz, though they were both at first in close competition in how many times they've won in sparring. Zoe, however, has been training with Tron a bit longer and was quickly escalating in skill and strength.

But if there was one thing Liz was better at doing than Zoe, it was piloting. She could fly jets, choppers, just about anything with high accuracy and skill. She was usually the driver whenever they went on missions together.

And several HiloCycles after Liz joined, Flynn wrote a search engine named Google, who became the big brain behind the missions Zoe and the rest of the team went on.

He's a nice guy and very considerate of others. Google gave enough proof of that when he didn't use big funky words that no one could understand. If a Program didn't understand what he was saying, it was most likely that they were stupid enough to not know the words. Usually Con, sadly.

And then there was the cycle when Reni and Ace walked in. Everything changed so much ever since. The team was stronger, there were more sparring opportunities, and everyone made new friends.

Zoe also noticed that she and Ace had some things in common: they were ambitious and enduring, both were determined to outdo everyone else, and they even had the same favorite drink.

It was sort of weird.

Zoe got jitters when she was around him; her stomach felt…upset, like she was standing in front of a large crowd but she wasn't.

Apparently Liz took that as a hint that she was starting to develop a crush but Zoe immediately rejected that theory, saying she probably drank energy too close to training time.

But was it a possibility? Zoe quickly shook her head. NO! It's not a smart idea to develop close ties or too personal feelings for another Program when they're working under Tron as one of his top agents. It's not right and anyone could use it against her.

Besides, it wasn't like she was letting herself develop anything towards Ace, of all Programs. He infuriated her sometimes to the point she'd like nothing more than to rip his head off! He'd laugh at things that weren't even funny (To her), he was too playful and not serious enough. To top it all off, he was cockier than Con…and that says a lot right there.

It's almost like he was pretending he was stupid even though Zoe knew for sure he wasn't…how the heck is that supposed to help him around the base if he's not working with everyone else the way he's supposed to?

And he's…messing with her? Zoe wouldn't put it as pointless flirting but he liked joking around her and challenging her every possible way he can.

He's on her last straw.

While she's busy worrying about that, unrest with the ISOs are growing and Clu was starting to act weird. Zoe could tell that Ace was noticing Clu's actions too but not going to Tron of Flynn to discuss it like she did.

Like Zoe thought to herself dozens of times before: he acts like such an idiot. And if she wasn't so focused on keeping her emotions in check, she probably would've noticed that Clu's speeches that were sparking his rise to power were starting to get to him.

She then didn't have to worry about trying not to like him…she HATED him…especially after Clu took over and she witnessed him lead several squads of black guard to execute ISOs in the streets of Beryllium.

Zoe then vowed she'd break his nose. After that she'll proceed to do other cruel things to him that she'd never once daydreamed about before. Then she'd kill him…with her bare hands.

She wanted to hold herself to that as much as possible, if not close. Ace deserved to have more than some sense knocked into him. He needed a good ass-kicking. And Zoe would be more than happy to give him the beating of a lifetime.

That is, after she tracks down her friends that went missing long ago during the Purge.

* * *

**Okay, I didn't feel like going into great detail because, seriously, I'm tired of writing graphic torture scenes for Zoe. I'm sure it's safe to say she's been through a lot and I seem to be abusing her character. Enough of that.  
Up next, we'll be looking into how Courtney's life started. It'll be a somewhat slow but interesting chapter, I think.**

**And to answer a reviewer's question from last chapter: I didn't make the cover myself. I own none of them...I wish ;P BUT, I will be drawing the cover art for the next series when I get started. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.**

**TRON LIVES!**


	3. Parties and Games

**Okay, I'm only saying this once for you guys, because you deserve it: I'm sorry. :( I know I've been MIA for about a month and I don't have any real excuse for that (although I could write an entire biography about my past month with over 300 pages, though I probably won't do that). But anyway, here's the long, long overdue chapter with Courtney's backstory back when she was timid. XD Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Parties and Games**

Courtney's POV

She closed her eyes.

They couldn't see her if she couldn't see them…right? Maybe if she just ignored them, they'd go away.

Someone snapped their fingers in front of her face and she rapidly blinked her eyelids back open. _So much for trying that…_ She slowly lifted her gaze up to the face of the person that bothered her.

Of course, she wasn't annoyed or angry. She felt more scared and nervous than anything else.

She had no idea what was going on or what they'd do with her.

Heck, she had no idea what any of them were talking about. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to know. She felt some of the looks she was being given by a few others weren't quite welcoming.

Maybe she was frustrating them somehow…

The person that snapped his fingers was watching her with an intense gaze. He looked curious.

"Hey Clu, Tron, what've we got here?" Someone that looked identical to the yellow-circuited program approached them. "I heard there was some trouble."

Trouble? Were they talking about her? Courtney couldn't hide her fears anymore and started to visibly shake.

"No, no trouble," A Program wearing a white suit piped up, which helped her relax a little. Not much, but a little. "Just a minor…bug in her system." He rubbed the back of his neck. "At least that's my best guess…"

"She's mostly unresponsive," The yellow-circuited guy said, "Maybe she was bitten by a Grid bug-"

"Grid bugs don't impact Programs to that extent," White-suited guy interrupted. "Perhaps a minor error…nothing that can't be fixed, right?" He turned to the new guy identical to the yellow-circuited Program.

"Whoa, slow down, you two." He turned to the guy in the white suit, "Considering all the…interesting events that have been going on lately, Tron, I wouldn't doubt what a Grid bug is capable of." He turned to the other guy, "And Clu, would you mind telling me what 'mostly unresponsive' means?"

She closed her eyes and pulled her knees to her chest. All she really knew was that she was found in a seemingly endless rocky terrain by these two guys and brought to…wherever she is now.

They tried talking to her but she didn't really know what they were trying to accomplish through that, so she ignored them and mentally closed herself off from her surroundings completely.

Now she was starting to wonder if that was a smart thing to do. But that's exactly what she was doing right now; tuning out their conversation and closing herself off.

She thought she heard the third guy saying something to her but she didn't pay any attention.

"…That's about how I'd describe 'mostly unresponsive' in her case," Clu muttered.

"'Mostly unresponsive'? She looks like she's in her own world right now." He turned to glance back at Tron and Clu. "Where'd you say you found her again?"

Tron shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "…The Middle of Nowhere." He mumbled.

"All the way out there?" He didn't wait for a response and turned back to face her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

She was immediately jolted out of her meditation and faced the User with wide eyes, her breathing quickened as she waited for him to decide what to do with her.

"What's your name?" He asked her.

She said nothing.

"Will you tell me your Programming?"

She said nothing.

"Can you talk?"

She looked down and he made her face him again. "Okay, we're still at square one here." He thought for a moment, "You understand me, right?"

She hesitantly inclined her head.

He smiled at the small progress. "Do you have a name?"

She frowned and looked back down.

His smile fell when she shook her head.

"Let's pick one then," He smiled. "You very own designation,"

She blinked at him.

He sighed and tapped his chin. "Shay?" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Nah, never mind. You don't look like a Shay to me."

She didn't. She had a black suit on that covers most of her body but leaves her feet and arms completely bare. Her neckline is low but doesn't show off much cleavage, if any. She had caramel-colored hair, white primary circuits and yellow secondary ones that seemed to match her eyes.

"How about…Courtney?"

The corners of her lips went up immediately upon hearing the name. The User smiled back. "Courtney it is then." He tapped his index finger on a baton he was holding. "Moving on," He thought for a moment.

"Uh, Flynn?" Tron spoke up. "I'm afraid some of the riots in the ISO District need attending to."

Flynn frowned at the inconvenience but nodded at the Security Monitor. "Clu," He turned to his copy. "Could you find someone that will have the time to help out our new friend with speech and interaction? Thank you." He then turned and walked away.

Courtney blinked a few times before turning towards the yellow-circuited Program. Clu didn't talk but he did scrutinize her at some point on the way back to the City. She stared back with a blank, curious gaze that seemed to make him a little uncomfortable.

When they entered the City, Clu finally attempted to engage in a conversation. He told her about the rules and regulations of Tron City and when he asked her a question, he made sure she'd be able to answer through nodding or shaking her head.

She could vaguely see that the System Administrator was feeling a little proud to have at least given her a start in the basics in communication.

He left her in the care of two other girls, promising to check up on her later if he had time. After he left, the girls introduced themselves at Alpha and Liz, who were friendly enough and very patient when teaching her how to speak.

Well…Alpha was, at least, as was another named Zoe; Liz was more of the person who blew a circuit quickly but didn't take it out on anyone in the room. Plus she went out a lot to get drinks.

Courtney took small sips of energy after Alpha decided to take a break for now. They made very little progress so far but Zoe saw promise.

And true to his word, Clu visited at some point; though Courtney hadn't started speaking yet, she was more responsive with conversations that involved her.

It wasn't until a few cycles later that Courtney was able to talk a little bit. Her voice was quiet, timid, and she said the words so slowly, as if it took so much effort to not mess up the words she spoke.

And that was when Liz suggested they went to a party to celebrate. What better place was there to party other than the End of Line Club?

Courtney had no idea how Liz apparently became best pals with Zuse. Alpha and Zoe didn't have a clue either; Liz never told them that little story. Not that Courtney cared that much. She thought it best to leave that subject at peace.

She hated the way the boots pinched her feet when she wore them – Courtney preferred to go barefoot everywhere but no one understood why. Courtney tried to wiggle her toes during the long elevator ride up the tower but only resulted in further discomfort.

"I hate boots." She said bluntly in her usual quiet voice. It was the longest sentence she's spoken yet. However, it wasn't the first time she's said it.

Liz patted her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, I know, sweetie. Just try and keep 'em on tonight. By the time we start partying, you'll probably forget you're even wearing shoes!" She gave the shy Special an encouraging grin.

It was unlikely. Every time she took a step, shifted her weight, wiggled her toes and whatnot, it reminded her of the discomfort in her feet. It never felt right.

Courtney sighed and pressed her lips together. No use arguing. Besides, she could make it through the night…hopefully. She could hear the blasting music before they even reached the top floor. When the doors opened, it was like she'd entered a different world.

Ever since she was found, she was kept in quiet, undisturbed environments. This wasn't something she was used to. As Courtney looked around the room, she saw lots of Programs mingling and dancing.

There were so many – at least forty or so. Too many pairs of eyes that would shift toward her and then look away again. Courtney backed up and her back hit Zoe. The agent put a comforting hand on her shoulder and guided her into the large space.

Liz, who, unlike Courtney, welcomed the chaos and strode right in. Just after taking five steps, however, they were stopped by the bouncers.

One of them eyed Liz. "State your business."

Liz turned her head toward the buff male and raised her eyebrows. "Um…to have fun?" She moved to step around him but the other barred her way.

"The room's nearly filled to capacity." The other informed her. "I'm afraid we'll have to ask you to come back later."

Liz narrowed her eyes. "You said **nearly** filled to capacity. There's still room; I can see it. Now let us through."

The first bouncer took a threatening step forward when Liz tried to move around them again. "Ma'am, if you refuse to leave, we'll have to use force."

Liz scowled. "I could put you and your pal on the floor in less than a Micro!" She stepped up to him but Alpha put a hand on her shoulder. Liz sighed and switched tactics and smiled sweetly. "Tell you what, we'll wait right here while you go and talk to Zuse for us. Tell him his old pal: Liz and a few of her friends are waiting for permission to enter."

They hesitated but the second guy huffed and walked away. The First one watched them as if he was expecting them to stab him in the back if he turned away.

The second bouncer returned quickly with Zuse right behind. "Liz, darling!" He stepped forward and hugged her. "It's been far too long! I see you've received my invite." He stepped back and glanced at her friends for the first time. "And who are these charming young ladies?" He asked.

Liz hooked her arm around Zoe's neck and pulled her forward. "This is my best pal, Zoe! She's saved me from getting a disk wedged in my back four times!"

"Five times." Zoe corrected.

Liz rolled her eyes and released her friend. "Whatever. That's Alpha. She's awesome; a real party animal." She turned to her last companion. "And this last one," She patted Courtney on the back. "This is Courtney. New to the Grid and still learning. A little shy – I'm trying to get her out of her comfort zone." She shrugged. "Ya know."

Zuse grinned. "I see. Well, come on in! Newcomers are always welcome here!" He turned to the bouncers. "Worry not, my friends, simple misunderstanding. Nothing more. Carry on."

The Club's owner turned around to face them again. "Now, Liz, I do believe you promised to make a good show this visit. But please, this time, try not to go too far this time when expressing your victories." He gave her an amused smile. "As for the rest of you, feel free to join on the dance floor, kick back on a sofa, or have a drink!"

Courtney heard some shouts and the smacking sound of hitting. Zuse frowned and turned his head. "I'm afraid I'll have to take care of this. So sorry. I'll be right back." He walked away to deal with the fighting while Liz started making a beeline for the bar.

Zoe and Alpha decided to lounge back elsewhere. After a few Nanos of debating with herself, Courtney decided to tag along with Liz to see what she was up to.

"Shaddix!" Liz leaned over the counter to give the bartender a big kiss on the cheek. "How long has it been? A few HiloCycles at least?" She clambered up onto the counter and started shouting challenges to drinking contests. "If anyone thinks they can beat me before getting an overload, feel free to step up!"

A big, tough-looking guy took a seat on a stool and smirked at Liz. He looked pretty sober, and the spunky young female took that as a challenge. "You wanna go?" She asked with a wide smirk.

He flashed a wicked grin. "Alright then."

Liz took a seat next to him and Shaddix got to work. Courtney plopped down on a stool next to Liz and watched as they took turns to emptying glasses.

First there were six rounds consumed, then thirteen. By then, the male Program was starting to look drunk while Liz looked like she hadn't even started yet.

By the time they reached twenty one shots, he collapsed out of the stool and Liz blinked down at him. "Best two out of three?" She offered, and the bystanders started chuckling.

Yeah, that guy didn't have a chance of recovering until at least a few millicycles from now. Liz spun around in her stool to grin at Courtney, not looking very drunk at all. A Program had to wonder where she was putting all that stuff.

"So," Liz rested her cheek on her fist. "You wanna have a round?"

"No." Courtney said quickly.

Liz giggled. "Okay then." She turned to Shaddix and requested two drinks that didn't contain alcohol. As they sipped the energy, Liz nudged Courtney with her elbow. "Hey, that guy over there is making eyes at you." She teased.

Courtney turned to look where Liz was gesturing and sure enough, a guy was watching her from afar with an intense expression. He almost looked like he had a bit too much to drink.

"You should talk to him." Liz suggested. "It would help with your speech **and** it's a brand new experience. You'd make a new friend!"

That guy over there looked like he wanted to own her or something. Courtney felt a chill go down her spine. Maybe Liz could handle her alcohol, but that didn't mean she was immune to the effects. Talking to a Program like that was dangerous, and Liz was clearly unable to see that at the moment.

"No, I'm better off not talking to him." She said quietly and paused.

Did she just say that?

Liz seemed to notice too and grinned. "Well, well, well, look who's finally gotten the hang of talking!" She cheered. "Took you long enough. Let's drink to it!" She ordered a refill for both of them and Courtney quickly downed her second glass.

"I'm…going to Zoe and Alpha." She said loud enough for Liz to hear and slid off her stool. Courtney squeezed through the crowd of dancing Programs and kept her sights on her friends. She bumped into a few Programs along the way and politely pushed past them, muttering an apology.

Alpha and Zoe seemed to be discussing something important, judging from the expressions on their faces. Alpha looked up at Courtney and walked over. "You alright?" She asked.

Courtney blinked a few times as she processed the question. No, she didn't feel good. She was starting to feel uncomfortable in this club. It turns out that parties aren't really her thing.

She felt several pairs of eyes on her. Zoe joined Alpha's side and said something that Courtney didn't hear. She turned around to see that same guy staring at her. A wave of paranoia struck her and she backed up into her friends. The room started spinning and she placed her hand on her forehead.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder and pulled her towards the elevator and Courtney didn't resist. As soon as they got outside, Courtney gathered her wits and looked up. Alpha was staring at her with a hint of concern but also curiosity.

"Looks like parties are a little intense for you, aren't they?" She asked.

Courtney nodded, her head still resting on her hand. "Yeah, you could put it like that." She said dryly. "I don't like it there."

"Can't blame you." Alpha replied. "Come on, let's get you home. Zoe agreed to stay behind so Liz doesn't get into too much trouble this time; you know how she can get."

"That-that guy back there…" She started. "He gave me the creeps."

Alpha slipped an arm around her shoulders and guided her down the street. "Clubs are usually full of intoxicated Programs. That's something helpful you'll want to keep in mind from now on." She shrugged. "Most Programs are friendly, but there are a few…" She trailed off and shook her head. "Never mind. We can discuss this sort of thing later."

They were silent for a while as they kept walking and getting closer to the Specials' District – the place they called home. "What were you and Zoe talking about?" Courtney asked.

Alpha stiffened but quickly relaxed. She casually shrugged and smiled coyly. "Well, Zoe was asking me how I felt about having a boyfriend."

Courtney wasn't convinced with her act but didn't say anything against her. Perhaps they truly did have that discussion at a different time and she didn't know about it. "And?" She pressed on.

"I laughed at her." Alpha shrugged. "I mean, I'm not really concerned about that kind of stuff right now." She glanced at Courtney. "Could you see me doing that? Dating a guy and doing whatever couples do?"

Courtney pursed her lips. "That kind of thing could happen to anyone." She replied quietly.

"I bet you could find a guy." Alpha mused. "It's not impossible. You're cute; it would take a blind person not to see that."

"But having to deal with possible heartbreak-" Courtney shook her head. "I don't like taking gambles like that. I avoid them."

Alpha shrugged. "Well, your odds of finding a boyfriend are fair, I'm just saying…"

"You might get one too in the near future." Courtney pointed out.

Alpha chuckled. "True, true. But only time will tell, won't it?"

They entered their apartment building and stepped into the elevator. Courtney pressed their floor number and the doors closed. Neither of them spoke to each other for the rest of the night.

They exited the elevator and walked down the hallway to their own rooms. Courtney shut her bedroom door behind her with a sigh and collapsed on her bed. She dreamt of nothing that night.

…

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Courtney jerked upright, dizzy from just waking up.

"Rise and shine, princess!" Liz's loud voice sounded muffled from behind the door. "Get up or I'll come in and get you up, myself. We're going out to have some fun!"

Courtney blinked a few times and got to her feet, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes with the heel of her hand. She opened the door and looked at Liz, who was grinning with ecstasy.

"What? Why?" Courtney asked.

Liz put her hands on her hips. "Because I think it'll be fun for everyone. Now come on! Zoe and Alpha are already waiting outside!" She grabbed Courtney's arm with one hand, shut the door behind them with the other, and then quickly escorted her to the elevator.

"Wow that was fast." Zoe complimented. "Did you drag Courtney out of bed again? You know you shouldn't be rough with her." She scolded her friend.

"Who? Me?" Liz looked at Zoe innocently. "What gave you that thought?" She rolled her eyes. "But you shouldn't worry; Courtney can handle anything that comes at her, am I right?" Liz elbowed a silent Courtney playfully. "By the way, where's Alpha?"

Zoe jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "She's already at the park. We figured you guys would take a while but," She shrugged. "Guess we're not right about everything."

"Do you mean 'we' or just you?" Liz asked.

"Are you looking to receive battle scars anytime soon?" Zoe replied darkly.

"Ouch!" Liz mocked a pained look. "Someone's touchy."

"I'll meet you guys at the field." Courtney mumbled, already tired of their verbal quarrel. Alpha was already wearing protective gear when Courtney greeted her. "Um…what's that for?"

Alpha grinned sheepishly. "It was Liz's idea to go out for a few rounds of disk games. She also mentioned it might be good for your fitness." She shrugged. "Sometimes I think that girl doesn't have a level head."

It was true, the way Courtney saw it. As Alpha helped her with the armor, she thought about her time spent hanging out with Liz. That Program didn't know what the words 'impossible' or 'limits' meant. She was always going places, causing mischief and doing all sorts of illogical and crazy acts just to prove that she can, if it's not just for fun.

Those thoughts weren't comforting at all for Courtney, especially knowing that these 'disk games' were all Liz's idea. By the time her armor was fitted to her figure, Zoe and Liz showed up, elbowing each other and giggling the entire way. Well, most of the giggling actually came from Liz.

The two rezzed up their armor with big grins. "Okay," Liz began, "How about…Courtney versus Alpha and I'll go against Zoe for the first couple rounds."

"You're a goner, Liz." Zoe shouted at her opponent. "You know I'm better,"

"Yeah, I just have too much pride for myself to be able to admit such things." Liz smirked. "You won't get any such statement from me as long as I'm alive!"

"Bring it on!" Zoe goaded.

The two friends clashed disks and things only got more intense from there. Alpha turned to Courtney. "You understand the basics, right?" Courtney nodded. Stay within the force field and don't activate your disk. The point of the game was to 'survive' and beat your opponent. Simple enough.

Of course, just because the task was simple didn't mean it would be easy. Alpha was more capable of fighting than she let on and beat Courtney every single time. Alpha just seemed so selfless and polite all the time that she never showed any aggressiveness in her speech or stances like Liz and Zoe did.

Their game was a little frustrating but also funny; she always got so close before she was put down, almost like torture. Every time Courtney lost, Alpha would help her back up, tell her whatever she did wrong with fighting, then compliment her endurance and they'd continue.

After a while, Liz called for a switch so it was Courtney against Zoe. Liz was also probably frustrated of constantly losing to Zoe that she wanted to fight someone she could actually beat.

It was pretty low of Liz to do that; and Courtney knew everyone was thinking it. Doesn't mean anyone would say anything. Besides, it was very petty; they were just playing a friendly game.

Zoe knew Courtney was unfamiliar with fighting in this type of game so she was merciful and went easy on her. Of course, like Liz, Zoe was also very competitive so that meant she wouldn't actually let Courtney win, either. So mean.

But when they switched opponents again, Courtney went against Liz. It was a little easier than going against Zoe this time. And maybe after several dozen rounds, she managed to win her first round. Liz, who was always up front about her stubborn pride, claimed that she only 'let her win' because it was sad to see her lose so much.

It probably would've offended any Program more sensitive than Courtney but she just laughed and brushed it off. It didn't matter to her if Liz went easy on her or not; she still won the round.

"Alright, alright, whatever." Liz got into her stance with her disk at ready. "I want a rematch."

* * *

**Next chapter's a surprise...only 1 of my friends know of the plot though. (Psst. Friend I told next chapter's plot to who I will keep anonymous, don't give away the surprise ;P) But anyway, I PROMISE to post this one on time next Tuesday. I'll see you guys next time.  
TRON LIVES!**


	4. Prank War!

**It's certainly not Tron Tuesday...'cause I was late again. :( I have good reason though, it's private, but it's a good reason. Oh, and I also know that we're far from April Fool's Day, but the original plan was to make this chapter a flashback in the actual trilogy. Unfortunately, I never got around to that so I'm going down to this. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Prank War!**

Alpha's POV

She went through her usual routine in the cycle's work after she woke up: tidy up anything in her room that required it, drink some energy, go to work (no Program could be lazy), hang out with her friends, drink more energy, go to a party or play games, then go to bed.

The start of this particular cycle felt…different though. It, of course, was different. Everyone had the whole cycle off today because Flynn insisted on celebrating some sort of holiday in the User world. Of course, no one was actually required to follow the actual customs, but they did have the opportunity to have some fun.

Though, in the minds of some of her friends, fun had different definitions. Alpha figured she'd have to be cautious this particular cycle. Knowing Liz, Ace, and Jude, she could bet that they'd be up to no good.

She opened her door and peeked out, looking side to side. The coast was clear. She took a step forward-

And tripped over a wire. Alpha landed in a clumsy heap just before a bucket of water tipped and dumped its contents over her. She grumbled and stood up as Liz's hiccupping laughter echoed throughout the building.

Alpha narrowed her eyes and wrung out her hair. _This means war._

…

Zoe's POV

She figured before having fun this cycle, she'd check in at the base to see if any assistance. She opened the door to Tron's headquarters and her eyes widened. She ducked just in time to avoid pain balls coming her way.

Zoe made her way further into the building, constantly looking over her shoulder. There was no doubt in her mind that either Ace or Liz was behind this. They were true pranksters that still had the security clearance to commit such childish acts.

Just before Zoe could make it to the door that led to their section of the headquarters, the gravity in the hallway reversed and she was flung to the ceiling. Her back made contacts with the smooth white surface and gritted her teeth when she was suddenly drenched in paint.

Ohhhh…they were so dead to her.

…

Tron's POV

User holiday or not, he still had work to do. Taking a whole cycle off of work for the majority of the population would no doubt be chaotic and someone had to keep things in line.

Tron opened the door to exit his office and paused, blinking at the sight in confusion. The entire floor was upside down! He rubbed his eyes and looked again to see if that was real. Of course it was.

He sighed. "Of all cycles to do this and it has to be this one." He muttered irritably. Tron had enough to deal with and this was just an annoying inconvenience. He reached into one of the drawers in his office for a data pad and paused.

He pulled out the thin, hard matter that was shaped like a tablet…but wasn't. It was a piece of flat, rectangular metal with writing on the front such as: 'Boring things-to-do list', 'Programs to tickle', and 'Ideas on how to kill Agents for setting up this ridiculous prank'.

True, he was going to kill them…after he finds his **real** data pad. But as Tron searched the whole building, he only found the same rectangular pieces of matter.

As he started recoding the floor (using old fashion methods) to be right side up again, he thought about how he was going to discipline whoever was responsible for this.

He could hide the twitching in the corner of his lips. Next cycle was going to be a pain for his agents.

"Tron!" The Security Program glanced up, his eyes widened a fraction, and he recoiled in shock. Zoe was covered head to toe in paint. "H-Have you seen anyone in the building earlier this cycle?" Clearly he wasn't the only one that was annoyed.

Tron shook his head. "I wish," He muttered. "But whoever's responsible for these…these pranksters are going to have a hard time in the next few cycles."

"Hopefully," Zoe replied darkly as she turned around and left the building. Tron shook his head slowly and sighed. _Young Programs,_ He thought. _Always so irresponsible…_

…

Liz's POV

She ducked behind a dark corner and waited for Jude to fall into her trap. Earlier this cycle, she and Ace sought out each other and agreed to an alliance for a prank war. So far it's been a riot. She booby-trapped Alpha and Courtney's doors while Ace laid out a few surprises at Tron's headquarters.

Honestly, Liz would be a little scared to face Tron's wrath next cycle. Who knew what he'd have in mind to discipline her and Ace this time? They were always the usual suspects…although there was never really a time when either of them was innocent. They were always out to get others just because it was fun. And they were always caught.

Jude entered Liz's field of vision as she casually exited the building. Liz grinned with ecstasy. This little trick took forever to set up; it required so much planning and calculations that Liz had to wonder if it was all worth it. Hopefully it was.

Jude slipped on the path and Liz smirked as the poor Program landed on her back. Most of her weight where she was laying applied force to the whoopee cushion beneath her. Liz erupted with laughter. "Oh, oh man. You should look at yourself right now!" She wiped her eyes.

Jude's face turned bright red. "That wasn't fair! I didn't even see the cushion; it's like…the exact same color as the sidewalk!"

That's the point. Jude stood up and glared at the Special. "I'm gonna get you!" She gave chase to Liz but didn't make it far. Jude ran face-first into some sort of clear, see-through plastic. There was some sort of disgusting goop smeared on the side that her face touched.

Jude wiped the mess off of her with a growl while Liz ran off with that infamous giggle.

…

Courtney's POV

Courtney sat up and yawned. After a lot of tossing and turning last night, she finally fell asleep. It was a pleasant rest too. She rubbed her eyes and blinked them open. Her vision was a little blurry from just waking up but it cleared very quickly.

When she could finally see better, she pulled her bed sheets over her head and screamed at the top of her lungs in fright. Courtney braced herself for attacks from the little insect-like buggers but it never happened.

Courtney hesitantly peeked out of the sheets and stared at the little statues of fake Grid Bugs that infested her room. It was just a prank. She sighed and grumbled profanities, cursing whoever sabotaged her room so she'd wake up to a jump scare.

One by one, she started deleting the fake Grid Bugs, not feeling eager to be accidentally scared by them again. Courtney had a pretty good idea of who would pull something like this.

And she'd get them back in her own way.

She stood up and walked towards her door. Opened it. She accidentally pulled a string and activated a fan that suddenly blew glitter all over her body.

Game on.

…

Ace's POV

He chuckled wickedly when he secured the string. Liz said she'd take care of the pranks with Alpha and Courtney, but he wanted to set up the Grid Bug one for her. A special little gift from himself to her.

Ace hoped she enjoyed it.

It was such a privilege to be pranked by him. He took the time to make complicated and elaborate traps for his victims with the exception of Courtney – hers was very quick and simple.

Ace finished setting up the trap for his final victim – Liz. This is the part where he would betray her in order to become the lone prankster. But he also wasn't stupid. Ace never underestimated Liz to the point of not believing she wouldn't try to betray him first.

However, Ace wanted so badly to be the one privileged of getting to prank the ultimate target. The consequences on any other cycle would be horrific but this was a special one. This was a free shot that anyone would be able to get away with.

There was no way anyone like Ace or Liz would pass up such an opportunity like that.

A mischievous grin adorned Ace's face as he backed away from the trip wire – which Liz hopefully wouldn't avoid – and quickly made his way back to his bedroom so he could gather the materials he needed for his last prank victim.

He opened the door and stopped dead in his tracks. His room was completely redecorated…

With him.

There were pictures of Ace scattered all over the floor and covering every millimeter of the ceiling, walls, desk, and bed. Behind him, he could hear a high-pitched yelp coming from Liz, along with the sound of spraying water. He bent his head and sighed with a content smile.

No one could see him and as far as he could tell, no one was looking at him either. Ace grabbed what he needed and left his room as if he didn't even see the unusual surprise hidden inside.

…

Ace pressed himself against the wall and peeked around the corner. All clear. He stayed in the shadows while he sprinted down the hallway towards his destination.

He snuck into the final victim's room and closed the door behind him. Ace turned around and smirked. Good. Still asleep. He picked up a nearby side-table and set it down on top of the victim, the legs standing sturdy around the upper body but not touching in any way.

Reaching into his pocket, Ace pulled out a blow horn he'd taken from Flynn during his last visit – the Creator was planning on using it for his own purpose but wouldn't get the chance. Plus there was his own prank he'd fall for at a later time this cycle.

Ace blew the horn very close to the sleeping Program's ear but standing out of reach. Clu bolted upright and his forehead collided with the underside of the table hovering over him.

The System Administrator muttered colorful Grid curses and lay back down, clutching his now-aching forehead. Ace laughed maniacally and quickly slipped back outside, still holding the blow horn.

At a later time, he attached it to the bottom of a chair that Flynn sometimes sat in when Clu was discussing plans with him. It wasn't high priority to prank the Creator though – he went far enough to prank Clu. If Flynn didn't fall for the air horn chair thing, it wouldn't matter.

Following through with the last step of the plan – escape to his room and stay there until next cycle. It sounded cowardly, but it was necessary if he didn't want to be chased around until bedtime.

Unfortunately, before he could get to the elevator, he bumped into a soaking wet Liz. A very angry soaking wet Liz. However, she didn't make a move to attack him like he expected.

"Tron called for an emergency meeting." She said bluntly.

Without a word, Ace followed her to headquarters. When they got there, they greeted Zoe, Con, Ken, and the rest of the agents. And then there was Tron standing there with his arms folded and his face emotionless. Zoe was standing next to him in a similar fashion.

Ace went into a straight line formation with everyone – Avery standing to his left, and Reni to his right. Zoe was looking at him with a not-very-happy expression.

Tron slowly started pacing up and down the line while Zoe remained stationary in front of everyone, scolding each and every one of the agents. Tron caught Ace's eyes and shook his head, showing his disappointment. "All of you. Each and every one of you in this line has been involved in causing trouble in this City."

"The Programs on the Grid look up to each and every one of you. You're supposed to set good examples to be followed." He gestured for Zoe to step forward. "However, if you insist on participating on something like this…"

Zoe picked up a bucket of water that was sitting against the wall and drenched everyone with it. Then Tron pulled out a remote and pushed a button. Tons of fluffy white powder rained down onto the Programs and made them look like Grid-snowmen.

Zoe smirked at Ace and high-fived her superior. "We win." She said smugly.

Tron pointed to the sparring ring. "Happy April Fool's Day. Now get training."

* * *

**It's nearly impossible to make Tron not awesome now and again. Honestly, no one could be a better prankster than the Hero of the Grid, I think (even though the poor Monitor takes everything so seriously). Anyway, this is something I've been dying to write and I have. XD  
Thank you very much, guys. And up next, we're going to pay a visit to the ISO District to get to know the early lives of specific OC's.**

**TRON LIVES! Toodles.**


	5. Isomorphic Algorithms

**Happy Tron Tuesday, Programs! This is just a little something in the honor of the ISOs before things got more difficult for them. ;)  
I enjoyed writing this because most of my chapters usually had fights and bad guys and whatnot but this is more like a backstory for Evelyn and her friends. Hope you guys like it!**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Isomorphic Algorithms**

Evelyn's POV

"Hey, Evie!" The ISO looked up from her artwork and grinned.

"Dallas, I thought you weren't coming!" She wrapped her arms around her friend. "How're things in Arjia?"

Dallas shrugged. "Satisfying, as usual. Anything new here in Tron City?"

Evelyn's smile faltered and she set down her art supplies. "Well, lots of riots but I'm sure you don't need me to inform you about those."

Dallas frowned. "How bad?"

"Well, they're definitely not getting better." Evelyn sighed. "I don't get what's so bad about us! What are the Basics' Problems?"

"Grid Bugs." Dallas replied bluntly. "Oh, and we're not organized with specific Programmings. I can tell that it's stressing Clu out. I'm surprised his patience with us has remained intact for so long."

Evelyn looked at Dallas with a dull expression. "You know, we get bitten by Grid Bugs too. The Basics know that; do we really have to be blamed for everything bad that happens? I certainly don't see any hostility directed at the Specials!"

Dallas patted Evelyn's shoulder. "You know, these discussions get old after a while." She reminded her friend. "We can do better in life. Now come on, I want to surprise Cassandra and Valor!"

That's right, Dallas told them she wouldn't be able to visit but she did anyway. They'll be so excited. Evelyn pulled out her baton and waved it teasingly in Dallas's face. "Race you there!" She shouted and took off.

Dallas stuck out her tongue and followed. "No fair! You had a head start!"

"Better catch up if you wanna beat me!" Evelyn goaded, causing her friend to narrow her eyes.

"Sometimes you annoy me." She mumbled.

Evelyn grinned. "Why, thank you! It's so nice to be hanging out together."

Dallas couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah, yeah."

…

Evelyn sat by Valor and watched at Dallas and Cassie played an extremely intense game of tic tac toe. Since Flynn introduced the game to the Programs, it's become a popular game of strategy.

Unfortunately, Cassie didn't have her head screwed on straight at the moment. She frowned at the board and drew a circle in the upper right corner, when she should've done so in the middle square at the bottom row.

Dallas drew an X in that spot when it was her turn and drew a diagonal line down the middle where she got three of them in a row.

Cassie gasped loudly. "You tricked me!" She accused, causing Valor and Evelyn to laugh. It was no trickery; Cassie was the only one at fault for losing. "I demand to have another round!" She said dramatically.

"Okay, okay, don't get your circuits in a twist." Dallas said lightly. "I've got plenty of time before I need to head back to Arjia."

"It's never enough though." Valor complained. "Come live with us! Tron City's a good place to live too."

Dallas frowned. "I can't just leave my job. It's hard to adjust when you move. You know that because otherwise you would've moved to Arjia, yourself!"

"Let's not dwell on this conversation." Cassie said, examining her nails. "Why don't we have some real fun, say…" She smirked. "Another round of tic tac toe?"

"You're on!" Evelyn said before Dallas could say anything.

She glanced at Valor. "You wanna have a go?"

Valor shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

The group of ISOs played about 17 rounds within the next PectroCycle, taking each game very seriously until it got a little boring. "Anyone up for disk games?" Valor offered. "You know how much I wanna beat Dallas's winning streak!"

"You got it!" Dallas jumped to her feet and hightailed it to the park. They helped each other activate their armor while they waited for their turn in the field. Dallas glanced at the Programs in front of them and shrugged. "Not a long wait this time." She grinned. "So who wants to fight me first?"

"Me! Valor said at the same time as Evelyn. They settled it over rock, paper, scissors and Evelyn won.

"You're doomed!" Evelyn said dramatically. "I've been practicing!" She emphasized her words by doing a bunch of kicks and punches in the air. She jumped up and spun in the air – it was a pretty good move, and would've been perfect if she hadn't landed on top of a Program in front of them in line.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Evelyn stood up and looked at the victim of her landing.

The male Program was obviously not in a good mood and pushed away her offer to help him up. "Just be careful next time." He said bluntly. "Someone could've gotten hurt."

"You know, you could settle issues over a disk war, instead." Dallas piped up, "There's really no need to get touchy."

The guy seemed to actually consider it. "Alright, we'll settle it over one round."

When it was his turn, he activated his armor and stood on one end of the ring while Evelyn walked to the place opposite of him.

"**Players 1 and 2, please prepare for Disk battle."**

When it started, the two Programs rushed each other and were doing all these fancy flips and techniques to throw their disks and dodge the other Program's attacks.

Evelyn ducked her head as his disk flew toward her and passed overhead safely. She rolled out of the way when it ricocheted off the force field behind her and back to its owner. She tossed her disk and he did a fancy pencil spin in mid-air.

The ISOs couldn't help but gawk. They were "okay" combatants but not experts. This guy was an experienced fighter.

He somehow got up close to Evelyn during their disk battle and caught her disk so he could hold both at her neck. Then he tossed them in different directions and they bounced off the wall and rammed into Evelyn so fast that she didn't see it coming.

"**Player 2 defeated. Game over. Do you wish to play again?"** The voice echoed over the field.

The male Program stood over Evelyn and handed her back her disk while helping her up. "Not bad." He complimented. "But I wouldn't recommend showing off like I was until you work a little bit on your speed." He paused. "You should also keep tension in your stomach and your weight on the balls of your feet. Always stay moving and never go still."

"Thanks. I'm Evelyn." She held out her hand.

"I'm Avery." He rubbed his chin. "You know, I've got some time off next cycle. If you feel up to it, we can all meet back here and I can teach you a thing or two."

"We really could use the lessons." Evelyn admitted. "Some of us have a habit of getting into trouble."

"So I see." Avery was no longer looking at Evelyn. She followed his gaze to see Valor backing away from an angry Program. Suddenly, the hostile drew his disk to threaten her ISO friend.

"Hey!" Avery drew his disk and approached the two Programs. "Stand down or I'll have to use force." Valor backed up and held up his hands to claim innocence.

The other reluctantly docked his disk. "You're dead, ISO!" He threatened. "Wait 'till I get my hands on you."

"This isn't necessary." Avery said firmly as he pulled the Program aside for a talk.

"You know what I think?" Cassie asked.

"What?" Both Evelyn and Dallas asked.

"I think Avery is a security Program." Cassie whispered.

"I think you're right." Dallas replied.

Evelyn shrugged. "That's cool. All the more obvious of why he beat me."

"Well, you are an easy person to beat." Dallas said smugly.

"I'll kick your butt."

"You wanna have a go?"

"Certainly!"

"Let's do it!"

In less than 5 Micros, Dallas beat Evelyn…again.

"Don't feel bad." Dallas elbowed her friend. "You've really improved since our last game."

"Whatever," Evelyn rolled her eyes. "What does it matter, anyway? I know I'm never going to have the skill of a security Program."

"You can still learn from one, though." Dallas pointed out. "Take advantage of it. Not many Programs can learn from a security Program, let alone befriend one. Just try to stay out of trouble when I'm gone, okay?"

"Okay…" Evelyn said dully.

"Dallas," Cassie said sadly. "Just stay. We'll become inseparable."

The ISO stared at her friend. "Don't be so dramatic about it. I'll be back in a couple of MylaCycles. It's not a big deal." She looked up and saw an annoyed Avery heading back toward them. Behind him, the hostile Program was struggling against handcuffs and several officers pulling toward a truck. "And you've got Avery, isn't that right?"

Avery looked up and nodded absently. "Have a safe trip." He said, "And be careful, the Basics are getting awfully violent."

"Don't worry, I can beat Evelyn in a fight so I'm sure I could handle a gang."

Avery rolled his eyes. "Let's hope you won't have to."

Dallas rezzed her lightcycle and departed her friends.

Cassie glanced around. "Where's Valor?" She asked.

Avery sighed. "He said he was going to have a couple shots and the End of Line Club."

"Without me?!" Cassie rushed off without warning. Evelyn and Avery were alone.

"So, how do I increase my speed?" Evelyn asked.

Avery rubbed his chin, apparently it was a habit of his. "Uhh…let's test your agility – they're similar techniques. It's very simple."

…

Aden's POV

"Do you always have to be negative?" Sylvie raised an eyebrow at Aden. "You know, not all Basics are out to get us. I don't understand why you don't see that. Just because you fell victim to a riot against our kind doesn't give you the right to go against every Basic you see. They're just a little…uncomfortable. They need more time to adjust and adapt to the changes."

"I don't think all Programs like change." Aden rubbed his forehead. "Mark my words: this isn't coincidence. Someone is working behind these riots and feeding the Basics false information."

Kym, who'd been sitting quietly throughout the conversation, raised an eyebrow. "I never looked at it like that before." He admitted. "It would make sense. Someone watching the ISOs and taking notes about whatever inconvenience occurs. I'd buy the info."

Sylvie bit her lip. "We need real proof…and the identity of whoever's behind it."

"I have a suspicion," Aden raised his hand. "But it sounds absurd," He admitted.

"Can't be more absurd than if I grew wings." Kym said lightly.

Aden sighed. "Clu could be behind it."

"Uhh…scratch that. Growing wings sounds much more realistic." Kym shook his head. "Did you hit your head too hard during that riot back there?"

Ace once again touched his forehead where a Basic slammed it into the ground. He was lucky enough not to get anything worse. "It makes sense though." He insisted. "When we first came into existence, Clu gave us the cold shoulder and pointed out that we attract Grid Bugs. That's something."

"That's where it stops." Sylvie crossed her arms. "If I was Flynn, I wouldn't believe it."

"But isn't it odd how Clu suddenly changes character and acts all sweet around us suddenly, even though it all felt wrong? You told me yourself, Sylvie. You said the aura of the space felt negative."

"I said there was a palpable tension in the atmosphere." Sylvie said. "…But it did feel negative." She said quietly.

Aden sat down and crossed his legs. "Just keep your eyes peeled. Pay special attention to Clu." He grabbed a glass of energy and took a sip. "He's the center of my suspicion; I just need more evidence. And time to think about it."

"I don't think we have time." Kym said in a tense voice. "I see mobs – lots of mobs – heading our way. And I don't think they look very happy."

* * *

**Okay, this is going to be the last chance for people to submit ideas for events before the ISO War. Otherwise I'm going to continue with what I have planned out. Remember guys, I don't see every error I make so if there are anything unexplained or loose ends, I'm going to need you to point them out. Reviews are always appreciated and I'll see you next time.**

**TRON LIVES!**


	6. ISO War (Jude's Story)

**Happy Tron Tuesday, Programs! I barely got this one up. I had a busy day - that includes my first time trying Caribou Coffee (I know firsthand that it's the kind of sugary crap that no one should addict themselves to). But anyway, this is something that I was really excited to write. I'm surprised no one asked me to go more into detail about Jude's experience in the ISO War. It was something I could go crazy on! :P**

* * *

**Chapter 6 – ISO War [Jude's Story]**

Jude's POV

She opened her eyes and sat up quickly. The sound of bombings and explosions filled her ears. Jude jumped out of bed and into the hallway. She got into the elevator and down to the main floor.

Stepping outside, Jude gaped at the sight. The ISO Districts were under attack! Looking toward the building Alpha and her friends stayed in, she could see something going on through the windows.

Jude turned away and pulled out her baton. She wasn't going to wait for backup if hundreds of lives were at stake. She knew it was stupid to play as a hero but she wasn't in it for attention. She'd always been compassionate.

There were explosions all around her, setting fire to whatever was left of anything destroyed. It was horrifying. Jude raised her arms to protect herself better and squinted in the smoke as she fought her way into a half-destroyed building. The elevators were out of order so Jude used the stairs – taking two at a time on her way up.

As Jude got closer, she could hear the terrified sobs of trapped ISOs. She tried to push open a door that leads out of the stairwell but it was stuck. That explains a lot.

Jude took out her disk and severed the hinges on the door, stepping out of the way when it dropped. There was more rubble in the doorway.

Frustrated, Jude pulled code out of the air to make a grenade. It was difficult to do so, but she was one of the few Programs that could do so. It was easier for her to manipulate the Grid, unlike most of the Programs.

Jude planted the light grenade and took cover when the explosion cleared away most of the rubble. She used her disk to get past the rest and past that-

There were lots of ISOs standing before her, frozen with fear. "What are you waiting for?!" Jude asked. "Get out, now!"

She helped to support some of the injured as they sprinted down the stairs together. When they got outside, Jude sucked in the fresh air and glanced around. If all the buildings were like this…

Jude sighed and roughly massaged her eyes. The smoke stung them. Exhaling, Jude rezzed her mask – it made things a little easier.

Then she went into another building. A taller one. It was more difficult due to the excessive damage it took – much worse compared to the first building. But Jude kept going.

She got to the second floor and found many ISOs shaking to their cores within the smoky room. "Go! Get out!" She shouted. "The building's taken excessive dam-"

Before she could finish, the floor suddenly gave way beneath the ISOs. They all screamed as they fell. Jude rushed as close to the hole as possible and was washed with relief when she found no one was seriously injured from the abrupt fall.

She decided to move on and go higher. She heard lots of voices behind a bunch of elevator doors, which made Jude pause for a moment. _Who in their right mind would take the elevator when their building was being fired upon?_

Jude pulled out her disk and sliced between the doors. Someone else was helping her from the other side with prying it open. The doors separated a few centimeters, then several more, and then a meter.

She sidestepped out of the way as seven Programs – including the guy that helped her open the door – got out of the elevator as fast as they possibly could. A few of them thanked her over their shoulders as they ran down the stairs of the building.

Jude knew it was stupid, that she'd done more than enough for people to be grateful for, but she kept going up. She tried to open a door to another floor but it wouldn't budge. She once again took out her disk and hacked at it until the whole obstacle derezzed.

She stared into the hallway that was filled with more rubble. Jude rezzed another grenade, knowing it was risky. The explosion could destabilize the entire building but she had no other way of getting through.

Jude planted the explosive and took cover as the explosion caused the whole building to shudder. It stood standing though. She cleared the rest of the floors and sprinted down the stairs along with the last group.

Then she heard a loud groan as the metal skeleton of the building start to give way. "Run!" Jude shouted and started taking the stairs down 3 at a time, knowing the risk of tripping but didn't care. She was practically running for dear life.

A pillar came crashing down from above and took out the stairs right behind Jude, killing several ISOs as well. There was no time to think. More pillars came crashing down and Jude made sure the ISOs were ahead of her this time.

As she went down, the stairs were taken out in front of her as well and found herself trapped on the 8th floor. She looked up and saw more rubble coming down. She dived through a door and into a hallway for refuge, which wasn't much better after a while.

Jude ran for a window in hopes she could possibly climb down from the outside. If she wasn't so exhausted with her mind going a million kilometers per second, she could've found the strength and concentration to rez a light jet baton.

But now she couldn't do it to save her life. Literally.

A chunk of the ceiling above crumbled away and hit her on top of her helmet, leaving behind a large crack. Jude crouched against the wall and tried to protect her head with her hands.

As the entire building shivered and fell apart, it was hard to stay in the same place, especially when the floor was about to break as well. A beam crashed through the ceiling and struck Jude's head, this time successfully shattering her helmet and disorienting her from the nasty blow directly to the side of her head.

As she lay there, trying to get her bearings, more of the ceiling broke apart and weakening the floor. The building tore itself apart little by little. Jude attempted to get back up but at the last second dragged herself into another spot right before a large piece of rubble landed where she used to be.

If she'd remained in that spot any longer, it would've killed her for sure. In her second attempt to stand, something small but heavy struck her and she fell back down. Jude's vision danced in front of her eyes and she felt the floor finally give way beneath her.

Then there was nothing below, nothing above, and nothing around her as she fell. Jude squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the pain.

She landed on the rocky, uneven rubble so hard that she didn't feel the pain right away. When it came, it was enough for her to black out while more of the building came crashing down on top of her.

…

Her entire head felt like a Recognizer had landed on it. As Jude slowly recalled what happened before she blacked out, she figured it might as well have. Wouldn't have made a difference.

Jude tried to shift, move a little, the position she was in was very uncomfortable. Something was jutting into her ribs – where most of her weight was – as she lay on her back, something large pressing against her head and squishing it. There was even more little bits of rubble piled on top of her body to the point of blocking out any light; any sound.

_Shfff. Shfff._

Never mind. Unless she was delirious, she was definitely hearing something.

_Shfff. Shfff. Shfff._

It sounded like someone was digging around in the rubble. Jude wanted to shout, do something to make noise, let them know she was there, but she didn't have the strength and was too hurt to do anything.

Everything she'd done earlier in her brave efforts took all the fight out of her and she remained limp, unmoving.

_Shfff. Shfff._

It kept getting a bit louder and closer as the noise was made. There was definitely someone digging through to her. But who?

Something hard smacked the side of her torso and the wreckage digging into her back became more painful. More rubble was cleared away above her. Jude's blurry, unfocused vision made out the silhouettes of many black and orange colored Programs.

Something wrapped around her throat and she was heaved off the ground into the air. Jude gasped for air and weakly clawed at the hands at her neck while someone tore her left sleeve. The violent throbbing sensation in her head got even worse and turned to a sharp pain.

"She's not one of them." She vaguely heard someone say. It sounded far away and seemed to echo in her head.

The hands released her and she was dropped back down to the ground. Jude landed uncomfortably on her side and curled up into a fetal position on top of the rubble.

There were hands on her back and then her disk was removed. The Programs that rescued her from her dark grave started talking but Jude didn't hear them now.

She passed out from the sheer exhaustion.

…

Jude opened her eyes and then quickly squeezed them shut against the bright light. Her head exploded with pain and she was hit with a wave of overwhelming dizziness.

She wasn't outside in the rubble anymore. Where had those Programs taken her?

Jude groaned and turned her head to the side, then gazed through her half-closed eyes. She was in a very small room, lying on a cot. It looked like a cell. Actually, it was.

Attempting to sit up, Jude battled the exhaustion as she rolled onto her side and prop herself up on her elbow. She ended up rolling off the cot and landing in a humiliating face plant.

Not wanting to try again because she was so tired, Jude just laid there. Silent, unmoving. She looked dead.

Maybe she was. Jude certainly felt like it. But if she was dead, wouldn't her pain cease to exist? Jude pressed her forehead into the floor and groaned. This was torture.

A door she hadn't noticed before suddenly opened and three Programs stepped in. One of them remained by the doorway, guarding it. That Program had those orange circuits from before.

Meanwhile the two other Programs kneeling by her side had the jade green of medics. The first medic removed her disk and opened up her code while a second hauled her back onto the cot.

"Her vitals are normal." She vaguely heard the first one say. Though both of their faces were concealed with masks, she could tell the first one was female. Jude turned her gaze to the other. He was male…as was the guard still standing by the doorway.

Blinking hard a few times, Jude tried to clear her vision enough to see past the door. She thought she could see a long hallway through the door. She figured the guards had taken her to a base of some sort.

The second medic, the male, was examining her head injury while the other was peeking at the damage of the code through her disk.

"Uh, Zoran?" The female said, "Could you look at this?" Jude squinted hard at the ceiling. _Did she have any idea what she was doing?_ Jude was having half a mind to get up and fix the problem by herself. She could do twice what that lady could.

She could keep dreaming about scenarios all cycle long. Unfortunately, it didn't mean she could do any of that. Jude was pretty sure her head injury messed up her motor skills and coordination. Maybe even impacted her attention span – she was now constantly catching herself getting distracted when she was trying to focus on the medics.

The male, Zoran, stepped away from Jude and looked at the disk. "What?" He asked. Silently, the female pointed to something in her code. Instead of the usual healthy white color in her code, it was orange, damaged.

Zoran rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "-is that?" She heard him ask something.

Jude looked at them. "What was that?" She asked, her voice raspy and hoarse. And she wasn't quite sure, but the words probably came out slurred and barely coherent.

The female looked up. "You shouldn't be talking." She said sternly before focusing on the disk again. "I think we should switch around this with that-" She was pointing at bits of her code and showing what should be done.

A realization hit Jude hard. Code doesn't get switched around like that. It's supposed to be replaced. They were either making a temporary fix or a cheap move. These guys had no idea what they were doing!

Jude cried out when the throbbing in her head worsened. She curled back up into the fetal position and clutched at her head. It was deep down inside the center of her head – it felt like the source of her pain…or the female that was fooling around with her disk.

Finding surprising strength from fury and pain, Jude jumped off the cot and launched herself at the female.

Zoran quickly got between them and grabbed hold of Jude. "Solana, get back!" He ordered the female as he pinned Jude back onto the cot. But she wasn't ready to stop fighting.

At some point, the guard by the door had to get involved. He put a light taser on her chest and went back to the door while Jude convulsed from the shocks of electricity. As the edges of her vision started going dark, Jude cursed Solana for screwing with her own code without consent.

…

"Alright, good. Now hold both of your hands in front of you – keep your elbows straight." Jude complied with Zoran and held out her arms. This time they weren't shaking with tremors. At least he knew a little more about her head injuries than Solana. The connection is a little better now.

Speaking of Solana, Jude hadn't seen her since the incident (with the exception of one other time) when she switched around bits and pieces of her code to make a cheap fix. The consequences of which really weren't worth it and nearly killed her at some point. At least she could count on Zoran to fix the problems his partner left behind.

There was no real way to describe how much Jude despised that medic. Jude was supposed to generate tools and little objects out of thin air but could still handle medicine better than Solana ever would.

Though it was so much harder – close to impossible – for Jude to pull batons and grenades out of stray code like she used to, she was still better at working on her head wound than that female medic. (Plus, if there weren't so many complications, she could've found it in her to rez a light grenade and use it to escape.)

The first time Jude had actually touched the wound, it was horrifying. She'd panicked to the point that the orange-circuited guard, Derek, had to sedate her. It was awful.

The second time Jude had touched the wound, she was also gazing at it in the mirror. The exposed pixels of her head were still glowing a bright blue under her short black hair.

At some point, Solana had decided she couldn't get a good look at her head wound because her hair got in the way. That was the last time Jude had seen her. It was the time when they shaved her head completely bald so they had a better look. Again, she'd put up a fight against it and wound up sedated again while they did it.

Now her head was covered with black fuzz that still did little to keep both her wound and the skin on her head hidden. Looking in the mirror, it actually looked like a weird buzz cut.

It looked terrible on her. The style not complimenting her face at all – if there even was anything left of compliment. The gaping wound in plain sight now made her feel like she had nothing.

She hated it.

Jude made the vow to throttle Solana the next time she sees her for 2 specific reasons: 1) Because she manipulated Jude's code using improper techniques without consent. 2) Because she costed Jude her hair. It used to go down to her mid back and was so beautiful back then.

Her hair would take forever to grow back. But Jude knew that her hair was the least of her problems. She still didn't have the slightest idea of where she was, what these Programs wanted and how she'd get out.

_Maybe I could just ask to go outside for a bit?_ She thought. _Surely they'd understand that staying indoors all the time isn't healthy._

_But what if they don't?_ Another part of her wonders. _They're not the friendliest Programs on the Grid. Who knows why they're doing this?_

_It still doesn't hurt to try._ She reasoned with herself.

_You can barely control how you flex your fingers! What makes you think they'll trust you to be independent anyway?_

_They can't keep me here forever!_ Jude retaliated with her negative side. _I will get out eventually, no matter how long I have to wait. I'll bust out of here by any means necessary-_

An explosion shook the building and Jude crouched in a corner, covering her head – mostly her gaping wound. Within Nanos, Derek had opened the door to check on the cowering patient.

For a moment, Jude considered pretending to be insane, saying things along the lines of: 'They're here to kill me!' or 'The end is near!' and maybe follow it up with a maniacal laugh. But she quickly ruled it out.

Something told Jude that if she tried anything, he would sedate her. Then she wouldn't have any chance of getting out on her own.

Jude glanced up at the guard with wide eyes. "What's happening?!" She asked in a barely audible voice. Since she'd gotten that injury on the left side of her head, she couldn't quite speak the way she used to. It was more difficult to speak and work her fine motor skills – especially in the right side of her body.

It was very aggravating, especially if she was already in a bad mood at the time. But she was making the effort to rehabilitate herself and relearn how to do the things she was so used to doing without effort.

The physical therapy was so hard though.

Almost like she couldn't have total command over everything; that parts of her was starting to rebel. Jude couldn't help but feel slightly nerve wracked over something like that.

She was just so…lethargic.

Derek didn't as much as glance at her. He just stood by the door and guarded her from inside. Jude couldn't help but feel irritable at that action. _Doesn't he have better things to silently guard?_ Her grumpy side wondered.

She could now vaguely hear scuffles somewhere in the building and maybe some explosions from grenades. Jude furrowed her eyebrows. "I-Is the base," She started slowly and carefully, "Being…raided?"

Jude saw Derek's hands tense and immediately knew the answer.

"Search every room!" She heard someone shout from down the hall. It was muffled and barely audible so it must've come from far away.

"We need to commence an emergency evacuation." Derek had turned to her and spoke. "Please cooperate so we can all get through this in one piece."

Jude looked down at the floor and bobbed her head once. He helped her onto her feet and stepped towards the door. Derek quickly tapped in the code and slowly, slowly opened the door to peek out through his opaque helmet.

Jude squinted outside the room. It was completely empty. And quiet.

Derek stiffened. Clearly it wasn't a good sign. The guard leaned further out the doorway and glanced to the right-

Right as a pair of hands grabbed him from the left.

Yanked away from her, Jude had no one to offer her even the slightest bit of comfort, something she sought through the simple comforts of a quiet presence or physical contact. She immediately curled up on the floor again, protecting her head.

She heard more footsteps in the hall; they were getting closer. Squeezing her eyes shut, Jude wondered if this was it – her end. She wondered if it would be quick and painless…she hoped so.

Then it was all eerily silent again. For a few Nanos anyway. Then, a single pair of feet gingerly stepped closer to her, very slowly. Jude opened her eyes and raised her head high enough to look at the Program.

It wasn't Derek, Zoran, or Solana. She didn't know who this person was. Taking a few shaky breaths, she urged herself to speak. "Who…are…you?" She whispered.

The Program wasn't looking her in the eyes, but a little higher. She figured he was staring at her wound. "Are you a prisoner?" He asked.

Jude clutched her knees tightly. "I've been kept here for a long time." She said slowly. "I want to leave."

Finally looking into her eyes, he nodded. "We'll get you out." He held out his hand.

Begging her motor skills not to fail her now, Jude very carefully reached out and grasped his weakly. The Program lifted her back onto her feet easily and guided her out of the room for the first time.

She saw that he wasn't alone. There were other Programs in the hallway, some standing over a pile of orange cubes that Jude couldn't stop staring at. She had that nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she almost couldn't bear to face.

Could that be all that's left of Derek? Did Zoran and Solana meet that same fate?

Jude shouldn't have wished pain and misery over Solana. Even if she didn't know what she was doing, it didn't mean she had to die. Jude immediately regretted the negative feelings she had with the young female. She'd never even gotten to know her.

She cautiously eyed the Programs in the hallway with her. One of them was responsible for ending Derek's life. Were they thinking about ending her too? She squeezed the Program's hand.

He didn't look at her. "I need someone to get this Program out of here. She's got an injury that needs some attention."

"I'll help her out." A dark skinned male volunteered. He was sporting a crew cut that made strictly short hair actually look good. Jude immediately envied him. _Leave it to a guy to make extremely short hair look good._ She sighed inwardly.

The other Program took her hand and the first guy let go, quickly moving on. Jude's pace of walking was painfully slow due to poor physical therapy (or lack of it altogether). Luckily, the Program escorting her was patient and didn't rush her at all.

When they finally exited the base, he'd rezzed a light cycle and asked her to climb on. They drove for at least 10 Micros before coming close to another base; quite unlike the one Jude spent so much time in recently. Most buildings in the area were destroyed – very few were left standing.

And then there were many Programs gathered outside. They looked like refugees. Or rebels.

She also noticed not a single Program wore orange circuits. Jude looked at the Program. "Are you…an ISO s-sy-sympathizer?" She asked quietly.

"Yes," He turned his lightcycle back into a baton and took her hand again. "We all are." Jude smiled as another Program approached them. "She needs some medical attention." He told her and then glanced at Jude. "This is Maggie – a medic. You can trust her."

…

Over the next couple of cycles, Jude had undergone more professional physical therapy and was already getting better. She'd come to know the dark skinned male as Cutler – who was very kind and patient with her.

Maggie introduced her to a friend of hers named Jeremy. Jeremy, who wasn't a medic, knew ten times as much about healing injuries as Solana.

Jude immediately felt a pang of guilt for thinking like that. It became such a habit over the past few MylaCycles of imprisonment – constantly judging the now deceased medic.

But the good news is that she's been doing much better since the accident. She can walk faster. In fact, she can run for a short period of time now – as well as other challenging physical exertion. Jude's been exercising the movements on the right side of her body more than her left, seeing she has more difficulty there.

Unfortunately, her head injury hadn't been receiving proper medical attention for too long and was there to stay. Jude was well aware that she'd spend the rest of her life as a cripple of sorts. No more getting into trouble like she used to.

It'd be boring and infuriating.

Just thinking about her future was depressing. She could see nothing helpful to make a difference.

"Hey," Jeremy stood next to her, interrupting her thoughts. "Maggie and I are heading out now."

Of course, she completely forgot they were both going to be double agents – working right under Clu's nose like inside men. At least they could do something helpful.

She was going to miss them. Cutler wasn't the only one to visit and keep her in high spirits. Plus they liked sharing their ideas of how they could possibly upgrade Programs and make them stronger.

Jude vaguely wondered if they'd thought about what exactly they could be getting themselves into and if they were prepared for it. Of course, there was no use nagging them now.

"Okay," Jude stood up and followed Jeremy outside a still-standing building she was staying in. She stopped when she was about one meter away from Maggie. She stretched out her right hand as if it came naturally to her. Maggie appeared impressed with her improvement and shook her hand. "I hope this isn't goodbye." Jude said with a small smile.

"Me too." Maggie replied.

"Hey, what about me?" Jeremy asked, looking slightly offended from the lack of attention.

"You get nothing." Maggie teased him with a slap on his back.

Jude couldn't say she'd been that close to the two Programs. They'd kept her cheerful in their company and helped her with rehab but that was about it. No more than friendly acquaintances that enjoyed company.

Jude embraced Jeremy in a quick hug and then stepped back. "Good luck," She said, "Both of you. Be careful."

Jeremy snickered. "Nah, I just wanted to storm Clu's hideouts and blow everything up." Maggie elbowed him. "Dang, that kills those plans." He finished with a wince.

Oh yeah, she was going to miss them.

Jude watched as they pulled out their batons, rezzed two lightcycles and drove off.

…

"I'm useless." Jude said.

"Now that's not true!" Cutler protested. "You've been supplying us with batons and grenades for a while."

"Yeah, like…1 or 2 of each every cycle!" Jude hung her head. "I used to be better at it."

Cutler touched her shoulder comfortingly. "It'll get easier with practice." He said soothingly.

"I've been trying!" Jude shouted aggressively. "I've been focusing and trying and I just can't do it like I used to!" Jude felt tears sting her eyes. "I just can't do it. I'm useless."

He was silent for a while. Cutler removed his hand from her back and lay down on his back. Jude hugged her knees tighter. _He knows I'm right._ She thought bitterly. _That's why he's at loss of words._

"I'll tell you what." He said. "There is something I know you can do well."

"What's that?" Jude asked in a dull tone.

Cutler caught Jude's eye and smiled that knowing smile. She's seen the look before. It means he has a good idea. Jude turned to fully face him. "What is it?" She asked, more eagerly.

"We both know that Clu hasn't been able to completely eradicate the ISOs." He mused. "There are many refugees fleeing Tron City to restart their lives elsewhere or just hide. And I know of a City where lots of them are going."

"Where?" Jude asked. "I could go there! I could help!"

"I could take you to Iodine City." Cutler said, "I heard some help is needed to help runaways settle in."

"Yes, yes!" Jude said. "I'll do it! I need to do something."

Cutler stood up. "Okay then. Let's go." He smiled.

Jude couldn't help but smile back.

…

"Excuse me," Two Programs wearing dark hooded cloaks stood in front of Jude. "Is this where a Program can seek shelter from the storm?"

They knew the code. An ISO sympathizer had clearly given them directions. Jude quickly waved them inside the abandoned store. She hit a button underneath a counter and a map of the Grid lit up.

"You're ISOs, right?" Jude asked.

"No. Only me." A female lifted her hood. A male did the same. They were both medics; she could tell from their circuits.

"I'm a Special." The male said. "We seek to restart our lives elsewhere, if possible."

Jude nodded. "What are your names?"

"Dallas." The female spoke up.

"Jay." The male murmured, looking over his shoulder.

"What's making you nervous?" Jude asked.

"Uh, I've been chased by some kind of Occupant Soldier." Jay said, keeping his eyes on the windows. "I barely got away from him the last time. He's been hot on our trail."

Jude zoomed into a City on the other corner of the Grid. "I recommend going to Gallium. It's quiet and peaceful there." She smiled. "And the Basics there have been said to welcome ISOs and runaway Specials with open arms. I think it'd be better though to keep that a secret though."

Jude zoomed into another part of the map – to another part of town in Iodine. "If you head northeast of here, you should get to a train station. Head to the lowest floor and go into a maintenance closet at the end of a hall. You'll get transportation from there."

"Thank you." Dallas said while pulling her hood back up to shade her face. "I'm forever indebted to you."

"Yeah," Jay nodded and immediately headed for the door.

Jude calmly watched them leave. She wished them the best of luck. And hopefully this bounty hunter wouldn't track them along the way.

Of course, a Program wearing orange circuits stopped by. He had light brown hair and hazel colored eyes. Kind of cute but Jude didn't care about that. "Excuse me, I'm looking for this Program." He took out his disk and showed her an image of Jay. "Did you happen to see him?"

Jude thought for a moment. Her automatic answer would've been no but it didn't go over well last time. A soldier got suspicious and asked to see her disk. She ended up having to knock him out and move her location to elsewhere in the City.

"I have." She answered, as if she'd just recalled. "He was in the company of another Program, though I couldn't see their face. He asked for directions of how to get to Arsenic. So I told him to head to a train station south of here and get a ticket for the C-train." Jude made sure to add some details so he wouldn't be asking questions all cycle. She just acted like a completely loyal citizen to Clu. It made her feel devious because she clearly wasn't.

The Program nodded his thanks and left without another word. Wow, he was so hot on their trail. Jude felt proud that she'd helped two more lives settle down away from this madness. They didn't deserve such torment like that.

She was shaken from her thoughts when a lone Program wearing a mask entered the shop. "Is this where I can seek shelter from the storm?" He asked.

Jude smiled. "Yes, yes it is."

* * *

**So...Jude knows some familiar Programs. I'm well aware in the trilogy that Dallas and Jay don't acknowledge ever meeting Jude and that's normal. It's not like they can remember every face they see and they only talked for less than 5 Micros.  
I especially thought this chapter was interesting because I made Jude express what brain trauma is like in the left side of the brain. The gash in her head damaged parts of her Frontal, Parietal, and Temporal Lobes. If you're okay with doing research (or know about the brain already), you guys can be judges of how well I pulled off Jude's behaviors and experiences since the accident.**

**Up next, we're going to look into how Clu successfully manipulated 2 of Tron's agents and how they were involved in his army.**

**As always, feedback and opinions are welcome (flames directed towards Clu are also okay). Anyone that does direct flames toward Clu will be used as actual examples next chapter (in a scene where a Program or two directly insult him). ;)  
I'll see you guys next time! TRON LIVES!**


	7. ISO War (Ace's Story)

**Happy Tron Tuesday! Glad I'm not dead! XD Because my older brother drives to school, he's giving me a lift too. I just learned firsthand that he's quite the reckless driver as well. :( Not the best way to start the school year.  
But since I'm still in good condition, I'm still posting this chapter! Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 7 – ISO War [Ace's Story]**

Ace's POV

Ace's circuits were glowing a cool blue. He was all business. If Clu had summoned him, then it was a mission (or a lecture he wouldn't be looking forward to). He was good at missions; Ace knew it, Clu knew it, and Tron knew it.

The other agents knew it…especially Zoe. Ace figured Tron and the others just hardly acknowledged it because they assumed you have to be serious all the time. Or maybe they were jealous that he could have a sense of humor too.

If anyone seemed to truly appreciate it, it would be Clu. It was why the System Administrator asked him to join him in the cause – the right path.

Wow, if he said it out loud, it'd sound like he was brainwashed or something. Ace couldn't help but smirk at the thought; it was ridiculous. But if it wasn't for Clu, Ace would probably be hunted, attacked, no one else would've given him a chance.

And now he stood outside the door leading into Clu's chambers. Always the same thing: Clu standing in the same area, staring out the same window, looking out into the same Grid.

But he always gave different orders to different Programs.

Ace walked into the room and blinked in surprise. Clu wasn't doing his usual thing. He was instead, sitting in a chair, massaging his temples, looking stressed.

If Ace wasn't already in a serious mood, he surely was now. Definitely wasn't a time to crack jokes, let alone smile. Seeing Clu like this wasn't a good sign. At all.

The System Administrator looked up and leaned back, resting his chin in his hand, once again looking somewhat like his usual self. Like Ace, Clu was good at masking emotions.

"Ah, good. Right on time." Clu eyed the Agent. "You seem to already know the drill."

"Yes, sir." Ace said stiffly, awaiting orders.

Clu stood up and started walking to his usual spot at the usual window. "If you haven't already heard from other soldiers," Clu drawled out, "Many ISOs have escaped the invasion in their Districts and scattered elsewhere. So I need someone who's good at tracking, someone who is properly motivated to do the right thing." Clu glanced back at Ace knowingly.

"Sir, I'll be happy to serve." Ace said genuinely. All Clu had to do was direct him and he'd take care of the rest. "You can count on me."

Clu nodded. "I know I can."

…

"Well, look who gets to go out on a special mission while someone else plays as the bodyguard of the benevolent leader?" A voice spoke to Ace from behind.

He stopped walking through the hall and smirked. "We'll both have our chances. Clu knows what we're capable of and will put it to use…unlike some others."

Liz sighed, leaning leisurely against a wall and crossing her arms. "Right then. Well, good luck on that mission. I hope you don't come back until at least a good few HiloCycles so I can take a break from your annoying personality."

Ace laughed. "Come on, admit it. You love me for my beautiful sense of humor."

"You wish."

"Well, I do admit that I have plenty of wishes up in this pretty head of mine." He bragged while dramatically brushing his brown hair with his hand.

Liz couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously, I don't know what to say to that." She remarked with a raised eyebrow.

He waggled his eyebrows. "One point for Ace." He said in third person. "Zero for Lizzie."

Without warning, Liz whipped out a small dagger and threw it. The knife buried itself in the wall behind Ace no more than a few centimeters from his head. The small scream he let out was priceless.

"Get outta here." Liz said, shaking her head with a small smile she couldn't hide.

Ace started striding down the hall. "Bye, Lizzie."

Liz threw another dagger at him, which whizzed by his head. And it may or may not have cut part of his hair. "Don't call me that." Liz said in a bored voice while Ace squealed and covered his hair protectively, running the rest of the way.

Of course at all times he had to act like a newly rezzed Program. Everyone knew it – they just didn't entirely accept it…because they were jealous that they couldn't be as fun as him.

…

He clapped his hands together. "Alrighty, let's see who's coming with." Ace said while looking through the rows of guards.

For this particular mission, he needed a small elite team; something that wouldn't attract too much attention but still strike fear into bystanders while they hunted down any ISO refugees.

Ace quickly started walking between the rows, sending away anyone he didn't feel stood much of a chance at all. With the remaining Programs, he rubbed his chin. After 2 good Micros of thinking, he finally made his decision. "You, you, you, you, you, and you." He pointed to several soldiers scattered in the rows.

All six of them stepped forward and Ace nodded in approval. "Yeah, you guys will be my team. We'll leave in precisely one PectroCycle. No later." He turned on his heel and left.

In his dorm, Ace made sure he was stocked up on enough grenades and batons. Once that was done, he had nothing else to do so he sat down on his bed and waited.

As bored as Ace was at the moment, he wasn't ungrateful. He knew he could've ended up in worse situations if Clu hadn't given him a chance.

"_**Ace, look out this window and tell me what you see." Clu said to Ace. The Program did as he was told. Ace saw typical Programs walking or riding down the streets to or from work. But that wasn't where most of his attention was.**_

_**Ace saw groups of gangs all over the City from the room Clu had summoned him, attacking innocent Programs nearby, getting into fights, setting small buildings and vehicles on fire. And there were riots near the ISO Districts – every single one in sight.**_

"_**Chaos." Ace murmured. "I see unregulated behavior and crime. Actions that must be eradicated."**_

"_**That's what I think when I'm looking out this window." Clu replied. "Do you know why I called you here?"**_

_**Ace shook his head. "No, but I don't have much time before I need to get to the security tower for training. But from what I'm seeing, we're more likely to go out to dispatch the crowds near the ISO Districts and arrest gangs."**_

_**Clu exhaled slowly through his nose. "What motivates you to work hard, Ace? What keeps you ambitious?"**_

_**Ace was tempted to question the Administrator. Why did he want to know? But Ace knew better than to disrespect one of Flynn's top Programs. "I wish for peace, freedom, and order on the Grid." He answered slowly. "But I also want to be recognized as a good security Program. I want to do what I believe is right."**_

_**Clu smiled and nodded, as if the answer made him thoughtful. It most likely did. "Ace, I need to tell you something very important. This may not be something easy for you to believe but I wish for you to hear me out."**_

_**Ace inclined his head. "Sir, if it's important, I'll be willing to heed your words indefinitely."**_

_**Clu was silent for a few Nanos, the atmosphere around the room becoming tense. The Administrator turned to face the security Program with hard eyes. "Flynn has abandoned us."**_

_**Ace blinked in surprise. Of all the things he expected Clu to say, it wasn't that. He thought Clu would mention something about a terrorist threat or that maybe Flynn was brining yet another User to the Grid with him.**_

_**Flynn abandoning them? Ace truly did find that difficult to believe. But he said nothing, Clu had yet to elaborate, to explain what he really meant.**_

"_**The Creator has indeed been visiting the Grid more often than usual, but he's devoting less time in authorizing me to make decisions necessary to maintain perfection." Clu watched Ace's reaction carefully as he spoke. "He's pampering the ISOs and not seeming to care about order and perfection anymore."**_

_**Ace's eyes widened. Of course Flynn was constantly visiting the ISO District but that didn't mean he was abandoning his duties as a User…right?**_

_**He had to admit it'd been a while since he'd seen Flynn converse with Clu about what to do about the gangs and Grid bugs. "What about Tron?" Ace asked. "Haven't you spoken to him about this?"**_

_**Clu sighed. "Tron's duty is ultimately to the Users. He's blind to what Flynn's planning. I suspect he plans to take the ISOs with him out of the Grid and never return. Tron chooses to remain blind to that possibility, which means most of his security Programs are as well."**_

"_**But if Flynn doesn't come back…" Ace trailed off. It would end catastrophically. Clu wouldn't have all the power and permissions to take care of everything himself. Even with Tron helping, it would be in vain. They need a User to help keep things in check. "Is it possible that Flynn isn't thinking straight under all the stress? Or…" Ace hesitated. Asking this the wrong way wouldn't end well. "Could Abraxas have gotten to Flynn?"**_

_**Clu blinked and Ace could've sworn he saw a glint of something before it quickly vanished. "I wouldn't know, Ace. But my duty is to the Grid and its Programs. I'm supposed to create the Perfect system." Clu's hands fisted as he looked out the window. "But things keep getting in my way."**_

_**Ace followed Clu's gaze. He knew what Clu meant: the ISOs. They weren't organized, they didn't have a purpose, a function…nothing except living. They're just…random.**_

_**And Ace knew as well as Clu that random opposed perfection. And knowing that the Creator was close to making a regrettable decision meant they had to do something.**_

_**Ace personally met Flynn and held a deep respect towards the User but like Clu, his duty was to the Programs. He was meant to maintain peace and order. But if Flynn abandoned them, chaos would ensue. Everything Ace worked so hard for throughout his life would all be for nothing.**_

"_**I feel the only way to liberate the Programs is to create the perfect system." Clu told Ace. "But I can't do this without help."**_

_**Ace had been thinking carefully through this whole conversation and he knew what he had to do. He only saw one good option. "Sir, I pledge my allegiance to you on this mission. I will help you accomplish your goal to achieving perfection and order by any means necessary."**_

_**Clu turned to face the Security Program fully. "Do you?" He asked. "Do you really?"**_

_**Ace saluted the System Administrator. "Yes, sir. What are your orders?"**_

Not only was Ace given the chance to do the right thing, he was also given the rank of General. Quite impressive, in his opinion. He felt like he did the right thing joining Clu. And Ace was glad Liz did too.

Well, he'd heard that Liz put up a fight at first, refusing to believe anything as such about Tron and Flynn but she eventually accepted it when it started making more and more sense to her. Now, like Ace, she was completely devoted to Clu.

At least the two of them were able to see things clearly. A shame no one else under Tron's command truly saw it though…except Dyson.

Ace had seen Tron's friend quite a lot…when they weren't executing ISOs in the streets. Other than a slightly darker mood and a completely healed face, Dyson didn't change one bit. Like Tron, poor Dyson lacks the ability to loosen up enough to have some fun. His fate is sealed.

The only thing that really changed about Liz was her primary circuit colors – changed from white to orange to show her allegiance to Clu.

Ace never did that with his circuits; mainly because he can't. They change color between red and blue depending on his mood. Besides, it wasn't like Ace had to show his loyalty to the System Administrator through the colors he wore. It was clear he was dedicated to Clu's cause: perfection and order.

…

They'd managed to catch at least a couple hundred ISOs in the last several Cities visited the past cycles. Ace couldn't have felt more proud of ridding the Grid of the imperfection. He knew he was doing the right thing.

Not only was he doing Clu a favor he greatly appreciated, but he was keeping order with the Programs that witnessed the deletion of each and every ISO. Everyone had to know their place.

Ace certainly knew his.

Now their next stop was Beryllium. According to his sources, there was a generous amount of ISO scum hiding amongst the Citizens there. It was also reported that there were many sympathizers populating Beryllium, so caution was advised.

No duh.

It wasn't like Ace was just going to march in like he owned the place and pick random fights with Programs (even though the thought was tempting and Ace knew he could get away with it. But he wasn't here for fun.

He was here because it was his mission; what Clu personally asked him to take care of.

Ace halted his bike on the City's border and held up his hand as a signal for the others to stop as well. "We go on foot from here." He said firmly. "We need to be very thorough with our searches. The ISOs are getting good at hiding and there are many Basics here that are willing to help them. So, as usual, just do as I say and try not to do anything stupid."

He didn't need to tell them anything twice. They were good soldiers – quite skilled in handling combat and/or verbal quarrels. Plus they don't question their orders.

For some reason, when Ace was hunting the ISOs, his circuits turned red. Deleting these anomalies was an important and serious goal, which should turn his colors blue, but he got a thrill out of the experience. He supposed that in a way every order he follows for Clu gave him that feeling.

It was sort of strange. But it didn't feel like anything compared to that strange sixth sense he had. It was like he somehow knew when one was close by and where they were. And he was picking up something now.

Ace stopped walking and turned in the direction that weird tingling sensation felt strongest. He settled his gaze on a particular Program. Glancing down at the sleeve, he narrowed his eyes.

One of the soldiers accompanying him seemed to take the hint and quickly approached the Program; the others followed suit. While the Program was restrained, Ace tore his left sleeve to reveal the glowing mark of a male ISO – a hexagon with an arrow pointing backwards toward the triceps.

The female mark was slightly different. It was a hexagon on the left arm with a T turned 270 degrees next to it closer to the back of the arm.

Ace had grown so familiar with the two symbols that whenever he sees them, he immediately goes into danger mode. He narrowed his eyes at the ISO that looked at him fearfully, face pale and body shaking in the grasp of the soldiers.

Without warning, Ace whipped out his disk and derezzed the ISO. It happened so fast he never got to cry out in pain. In fact, he probably didn't feel a thing; and Ace was okay with that. Even he had his limits; he was never quite able to stomach torture.

Then the wave of nausea hit him. It happened every time he derezzed an ISO. Luckily the guards accompanying him were just Basics so none of them were fazed by the death. They got into routine of covering Ace until he was able to recollect himself.

The downside of the unpleasant feeling was that it never got better or worse. It was there and then it wasn't. Same thing every single darned time.

Ace never figured it meant anything, he just found it annoying; something that constantly got in the way.

When the pain, without warning (as usual) went away, Ace glanced up and grinned deviously. "Well hello, Lieutenant Skipper." He greeted. "Fancy seeing you here."

The hunter merely blinked and raised his eyebrows. "Likewise."

"So…who's your target this time?" Ace asked.

"You."

"Ah, that's nice – wait. What?!" Ace squeaked.

It was the Lieutenant's turn to smirk, to which Ace smirked back. "I'm just kidding. Obviously. I can't believe you believed it. I'm actually looking for Zoe." Well, his smirk was wiped off a second time.

"She still hasn't been caught yet?"

"Nope. I've actually been tracking her for the past few MylaCycles. She's a slippery one."

_That sounds like Zoe._ Ace thought. "Of course she is. She was Tron's best." As much as he looked up to her as a superior and a good example, respecting her, he was also jealous and a little irritated from her lack of humor. Nonetheless, they were once good friends – no. They were more like friendly-ish allies that still liked to quarrel now and then.

But that was in the past. Ace changed for the better and he was fulfilling his duty to the Grid. He is the example now – except Zoe, nor were the others following it…except Liz.

Skipper let out a humorless laugh. "No kidding." He started walking away, followed by his small squad of soldiers. "Best of luck on your mission." He called over his shoulder.

Usually, Ace would say "you too" but he felt too conflicted for some reason. So he just said "thanks" and moved on by a few steps before he got that light tickle again.

He looked around. It wasn't an ISO but a Special. Whether they were sided with Clu or not was yet to be determined once he found him or her. Maybe he should call Skipper back to deal with it but another part of him said not to. That second part won the mental battle.

A scuffle happened to his right and he saw a few of his soldiers tackled a Program and pin him. "Sir, this Program tried to run." He reported.

Ace knelt down next to the civilian and examined him. He shook his head. "No, he's not one of them." He was released and the Program quickly ran away. "Keep moving, we need to eliminate as many ISO escapees as possible." The soldier all nodded in acknowledgment and moved on.

That prickling sensation caught his attention again and not only that. He was being watched. Looking out at the crowd of Programs, Ace let his eyes settle over a small, dark figure in a black cloak. A female. The cape went down to her mid-thigh and hung loosely over her shoulders, covering part of her neck and chest. The hood was also drawn, casting a dark shadow over her face so she couldn't be seen though Ace saw several strands of blonde hair uncovered.

The figure noticeable tensed – she knew he was watching her. Ace narrowed his eyes. She seemed to lower her head further. Yeah, she definitely didn't want to be recognized.

Glancing at her legs that weren't covered by the cloak, he noticed her circuit design. Primary white merging in and out of a teal and turquoise color combination. There was only one known Program like that.

It was Zoe.

Suddenly, it was like he could see straight through the shadow covering her. He could see her face. It was definitely her.

The look on her face was enough to keep him from calling Lieutenant Skipper over to deal with the runaway Special. It made him even consider overlooking the fact that he saw her.

She was just a mix of so many potent emotions: fright, anger, determination, melancholy. It was just the things to induce shame. Zoe was a former comrade, she used to be superior to him under Tron's command but she still respected him as an equal or sorts.

Zoe was always there to challenge him, not just to keep him in "his place" but to also push his limits, expand his strength and practices. She's one of the reasons he ever got so good in fighting.

In a way, he owed her. Besides, Clu ordered him to eradicate the ISOs, not to hunt the Specials; nor was he ever directly commanded to report it if he ever saw one.

This was his way of repaying her. A chance.

He sighed and shook his head, pretending like he didn't see anything at all, that it was just a false alarm. Ace turned on his heel and walked away, only looking back once to see how she'd respond to that.

Zoe was moving in the opposite direction, clearly avoiding him. Ace managed to suppress a smile. Next time he wouldn't hold back anything but Ace also couldn't help but feel happy for her.

She was still as free as her spirit.

"There's a Special! Get her!" And that's how skilled Skipper's soldiers are. Just as good as their squad leader. Ace had to admit that he was impressed. The fact Zoe was spotted though wasn't Ace's fault, he gave her a chance. Therefore, he was no longer in Zoe's debt.

Somehow though, Ace could resist watching the chase go down. Of course, Skipper's soldiers may have seen her but that didn't mean she'd be captured easily. Turns out he was right. Zoe managed to shake them off and disappear.

Obviously, the agent's skills haven't dulled the tiniest bit.

"Sir, I think we caught one." Ace was shaken from his thoughts. Without a word, he approached the prisoner and checked for the mark. Sure enough, there it was.

He grabbed his disk and derezzed the ISO. "Let's keep moving." Ace said, putting away his disk.

…

"You're the worst System Administrator in the history of System Administrators! I bet you only attacked the ISOs because you were jealous of all the attention Flynn gave them!" The prisoner shouted at Clu. Wow, this Program had guts for sure. Not only was this guy caught for attacking guards on the street, but he had a history of helping ISOs into hiding.

"You have no right to rule the Grid as a Dictator! And if you think everyone's just going to willingly follow you right after committing genocide on one-third of the Grid's population, then you're a fool!" Okay, this sympathizer had a death sentence for sure. No one dared to insult Clu like that. Ace glanced to his left at Liz. Sure enough, he could see her shock through her posture.

Ace glanced at Clu, who didn't look the least bit amused from the Program's words. The System Administrator turned to face the Basic fully. "Anything else you'd like to say?" He sneered.

The cuffed Program kneeling before Clu simply glared and remained silent. Clu stepped closer and circled the prisoner like a predator stalking prey. This wasn't looking so good. "I'll ask you one last time, Program." The Administrator leaned closer so he was in his face. "Where are your ISO friends hiding?"

"Go jump into the Sea of Simulation!" He snarled back.

Ace would be lying if he didn't find those words ironic, seeing that Clu recently poisoned the Sea to stop the ISOs from manifesting. Plus it's not entirely certain if it would be safe for a Program to be in the Sea. But then again, what Program against Clu didn't want him to derez?

Clu smirked and straightened up, his eyes looking at the Basic in cold amusement, doing well to hide the anger and frustration burning underneath. But Ace knew better.

"Dyson, I think this one needs to be better acquainted with you, don't you think?" Oh, Ace knew that look. "Why don't you see if you can…coax anything out of him?"

Dyson smiled. "Of course, sir." He hauled the Basic to his feet and pushed him out of the room.

Ace knew what the General had planned. The ISO sympathizer was going to become very familiar with Dyson…as well as the torture chamber.

He was grateful that he never had to witness anything such as that. If anything, he was squeamish with that stuff. He had his own limits of what he'd commit himself to in Clu's name.

"Tron will find you and knock you into the next MylaCycle! You're going to wish you were never brought into existence!" Ace heard the Basic's insults echo through the hall as he was dragged further away from Clu.

Dyson was for sure going to make sure the rebel pay for what he said to Clu's face. A Program could be severely punished saying less insulting things behind Clu's back but saying that stuff to his face?

Ace would be surprised if he made it through to the next cycle.

If the Program wasn't so bent on opposing Clu, Ace would've felt sorry for him. But he had it coming.

Ace couldn't help but wonder what Zoe would endure if she was brought back here-

Wait what? Ace shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about her. He knew he should be thinking about his next move on how to find a more effective method of wiping out the ISOs.

But for some reason, he couldn't keep Zoe's face out of his head. The image from Beryllium when he could've turned her over. It was like she was trying to tell him something.

He knew that he betrayed her but she was on the wrong side in the conflict…right?

_No! Stop it!_ Ace shook his head. Thinking anything like that was treason. But he had to wonder who was really right in this conflict. Was it really right to kill off the ISOs? The nausea that followed their derezzolution should've tipped him off that it was wrong but it could mean anything other than that.

And did Flynn really think about abandoning them? That couldn't have been right. He worked so hard to build this utopia that he couldn't just leave it all behind, even if he really did intend to leave the Grid with the ISOs.

It was then that Ace realized something. It was never decided if the Specials were going to leave the Grid. The ISOs weren't the only ones being pampered but Flynn never said anything about taking any Specials with.

Ace knew that Flynn wouldn't just abandon them even if he did take the ISOs with him out of the Grid. The Creator would still have something here to come back to.

Clu was wrong. Flynn was just temporarily distracted with other priorities but he would never abandon them. Ever.

The System Administrator sighed, grabbing Ace's attention once again. "You're both dismissed." He said tiredly. "I need to think."

Ace didn't hesitate. He strode right out of the room and didn't look back. Of course, he knew he couldn't just leave that poor Basic here at the base to be tortured, so he figured he'd bust him out too.

He found him strapped down to a table in the dark, cold chamber, marred with some nasty wounds on his face and body. He was also missing a hand now.

Ace derezzed the restraints and hauled up the unconscious prisoner. Now all he had to do was play as the casual guard until he got out of the base.

Seeing that he didn't have any belongings he needed before he left, he just went out to the hangar and outside. He needed to find his old pal, Cutler.

He could trust the Basic to explain himself without getting derezzed by him.

…

"You picked one heck of a time to suddenly switch sides." Cutler said pointedly. "What made you change your mind about Clu?"

Ace chose his words carefully when he spoke. "Clu manipulated me into thinking Flynn would abandon all of us if he had his way with the ISOs. He…tricked me. I just happened to get a fresh perspective from a few individuals."

Cutler considered the answer and seemed satisfied. "I'd believe that." He said. "Unfortunately, not everyone else will." The Basic stood up. "You can't stay here. Even if you appear to be deserting Clu, you won't be so easily forgiven." Glancing at the prisoner Ace busted out, he added, "Clu will also be upset that you committed a crime right before leaving." He shook his head. "You really burned the bridge, Ace."

The Special managed to crack a small smile. "Lately, that's the only thing I've been good at. I know this isn't going to be easy but I'm glad to still have you around, man."

"But I'm still not very happy about your decision making earlier." Cutler shook his head. "That won't be so easily forgotten even by me. I only listened because it was only fair to hear you out. Be glad that I did."

Ace stood up. "I know an apology won't fix up every problem I caused but I'm still going to say it." He sighed. "I'm sorry. And from now on, I'm going to work to redeem myself. Hopefully I can at least regain the trust of some of the friends and allies I've lost."

Cutler shook Ace's hand. "I wish you the best of luck, old friend."

"Yeah," The injured Basic added, followed with a fit of coughing. "Me too. Thanks for busting me out. I think Dyson was only going easy on me that time." He shuddered. "I don't even wanna know what I would've had to face if you didn't help me."

Ace nodded. "You're welcome." He started walking out, "And I hope you get better real soon, because I don't think Clu's letting up anytime soon." Ace managed a small smile to both Basics before he disappeared.

Ace was nervous. He knew he wouldn't be easily forgiven or welcomed back. And to top it off, he'd have to work extra hard in gaining back everyone's trust.

But it was a challenge. Ace liked challenges.

He was ready.

Ace rezzed his lightcycle and drove away without looking back.

* * *

**Also, very good news, my trial net results came back. No early signs of type 1 diabetes so I'm good with that too. ;)  
I should also mention now: since school has started, my homework and projects (there will be a lot of them) may interfere with my writing time. So if I miss posting one week, at least there's an explanation and fair warning for you all.  
Up next, we'll find out what's happened with Reni and Avery during the Purge. I'll even later explain what happened to Avery, since he was only mentioned once in the entire series. When I say I intend to tie up loose ends, I'm not kidding around. ;P  
Also, a big thank you the guest reviewer: The Chosen One, who seems to be an old friend. Thank you for the flames! XD  
And as always, comments, feedback, constructive criticism, and flames for usage purposes are always welcome!  
TRON LIVES!**


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